Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist told SportExpressen’s Magnus Nystrom (link in Swedish) that he suffered an injury to a ligament in his knee while playing for Sweden at last month’s World Championships. NHL.com’s Dan Rosen clarifies (via Twitter) that it’s an MCL sprain. The rehab time is expected to be four to six weeks. The netminder added that he plans to get back to on-ice workouts in early August.
The 35 year old didn’t specify when the injury occurred but he noted he had it before suiting up in the final game against Canada. The issue didn’t appear to hold Lundqvist back in any form as he had a strong showing for the gold medallists, posting a 1.31 GAA and a .946 SV% in five games after joining the team midway through the tournament. He was particularly sharp in that final match, allowing just a single goal while not allowing any goals in the shootout.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- The Capitals are interested in re-signing pending RFA winger Brett Connolly and in fact have come close to reaching an agreement a couple of different times with him, reports CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Tarik El-Bashir. Simply receiving his qualifying offer (worth just over $892K) would be a nice change of fortune for him after not being tendered one by the Bruins last summer. The 25 year old set a career high in goals this season with 15 in 66 games and fit in nicely on the third line for a significant portion of the year. However, he found himself in the doghouse in the postseason and was a healthy scratch for their final six games.
- Flyers GM Ron Hextall has already tabled a qualifying offer to pending RFA Shayne Gostisbehere, notes CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio. Hextall wouldn’t comment on the status of negotiations, only commenting that he’d like to have a deal done before training camp starts in September. After a quieter sophomore campaign that saw him as a healthy scratch at one point, Gostisbehere could be in line for a bridge contract instead of a long-term deal.
- The Canadiens will not ask either of their players with no-move clauses to waive them in advance of expansion, John Sedgwick (Montreal’s director of legal affairs) told Hugo Fontaine of the teams’ official website. Goalie Carey Price wasn’t going to be left unprotected either way but defenseman Jeff Petry, who has four years left with a cap hit of $5.5MM, could have been a candidate if the team wanted to protect both Jordie Benn and Nathan Beaulieu.