ESPN’s Kevin Weekes has reported that Tampa Bay Lightning superstar goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy underwent successful back surgery, and is expected to be out of commission on an eight-to-ten-week timeline. The Lightning confirmed the news, with GM Julien BriseBois stating that Vasilevskiy is expected to miss “the first two months of the regular season.”
Vasilevskiy hasn’t been a regular participant in Lightning camp in recent days, with head coach Jon Cooper previously telling reporters that Vasilevskiy was out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
This is obviously a major blow to the Lightning, who have come to rely on the brilliant goaltending provided by Vasilevskiy in order to remain among the top teams in a highly competitive Atlantic Division.
While this development is something of a surprise, it doesn’t come completely out of nowhere.
Vasilevskiy has in the past commented on how his high workload has impacted his body, which is something to be expected given the number of deep playoff runs the Lightning have made in recent seasons, led by Vasilevskiy in the crease on a nightly basis. The hope here will be that Vasilevskiy can make a full recovery before the new year, and get back to playing like one of the league’s best netminders.
The 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner’s injury thrusts new backup Jonas Johansson into an unfortunate spotlight. It’ll be up to him to keep the Lightning competitive in the Atlantic for the first two months of the regular season, which is something of a tall task for a player with a career .887 save percentage in the NHL.
That being said, Johansson’s more recent form does provide reason for optimism. He posted a .932 save percentage playing in parts of three NHL games last season, and had a .920 save percentage in the AHL. But with only 35 total games of NHL experience, a massive test is coming up for the 28-year-old.
Behind Johansson on the depth chart is Hugo Alnefelt, who has just 20 minutes of NHL experience, and Matt Tomkins, a player who represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing but has never skated in an NHL game.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Yikes!
not the news I wanted today , bizarre to say the least considering he’s been on the ice last few days training with Frantz Jean. wonder what move they make to bring in a seasoned vet.
As a Caps fan, I’d say y’all can have our backup, Charlie Lindgren. He hasn’t played a lot of NHL games, but he’s been really good, when he’s played. I wanna see Hunter Shepard, the Calder Cup MVP, be the Caps backup. But Caps brass seem very high on Lindgren.
I snagged Lindgren for a few games in fantasy last year and he was decent for the time I had him! not sure if he’s a fit in tampa right now , who the hell knows what they do to bandaid this.
Mrazek is available.
@unclemike
Who’d want him?
Ouch! Tough for Tampa. I’d feel bad for them, but they have two recent Cups, so can’t feel too sorry.
It’s hard to feel sorry for a team that circumvents the salary cap by stashing players on LTIR all season and activating them for the playoffs.
Right, because, as everybody knows, the Lightning do this all the time! Sarcasm aside, this happened exactly once (with Kucherov, obviously), and while I’m obviously biased, it’s hard for me to believe that they “stashed” him there with the deliberate intention of circumventing the cap, seeing as how they announced he was going to miss the entire regular season in 2020 (shortly after the first Cup win). Would’ve been a pretty big gamble to rule him out for the entire regular season before it even started if it wasn’t legit.
@layentsky
They didn’t do anything against the rules, or against the CBA. Devious? A trifle. Exploiting a loophole? Perhaps. But if it’s against the spirit of the rule, then the teams should change it. Every team can take advantage of this.
BTW Chicago also did it, with Patrick Kane.
Well Lightning Strike, you have a few details wrong!
First they didn’t announce anything until camps started the next yr, not right after the cup win.
2nd they said he’d be out the whole year because that was their plan to use his 9.5m and if he would have been activated for any games – they were short 9.5m !
Kucherov was practicing at full tilt for 2 months before game 1 of playoffs! So yes he was healthy enough to play earlier – no cap space – so circumvent the system by not activating him!!!
Agreed. And as a bitter Islander fan, it’s also tough watching the NHL ignore the tax hit the players take to sign in NY.
Trust me, as a NY fan, I’m not looking for sympathy but the truth is the truth.
1) Even if they announced it after camps started (I’ll admit my memory is foggy on that one), that’s still prior to the start of the season, last I checked. Pretty big gamble. 2) Is it possible that he was healthy earlier (before the end of the season) and that they didn’t activate him because they recognized the loophole? Sure it’s possible, but there’s no way to know for certain, and given that they stated that he would be out for the entire regular season long before that, I’m not convinced. In short, to say that it was a deliberate and calculated maneuver for the purpose of cap circumvention is speculation-possible, but hardly proven.
2 months is a stretch, but he was regular practice for at least a couple of weeks before the season ended. Vegas tried it twice, year before he came back suddenly around the deadline when it became clear they likely wouldn’t make the playoffs without him, they sill didn’t that year but last year had a point buffer so why play a guy with chronic back problems when you can add players at the deadline.
Spencer Martin is on Waivers via Vancouver at least he has more experience , and Tampa is or now Vasilevskiy is out.
After two cups and three appearances in the big show recently it shouldn’t be surprising the team is trending the wrong way. That’s really how the league business model is set up. It might be time for the rebuild.
Detroit could trade them Reimer or Lyon.
I would guess they make a deal for Vlader, though.
No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is…not good, to put it mildly. The only remotely possible silver lining is that maybe Vasi will be his superhuman form again upon returning, but…wow. Goodness.
Just as likely this hampers him for the rest of his career, hopefully not as you hate to see a talented career cut short.
Maybe they make a deal with Toronto for Martin Jones.
Or quick, sign Halak.
or Spencer Knight, trade Tanner Jeanot for him, LOL
Maybe another GM loses his mind and we can get our 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th round picks back…
Despite his subpar season I wonder if BriseBois will contact Brian Elliott’s agent.
I think this might be the year TB pays the piper. Then again, not the 1st time I’ve said that…
Maybe the plan will be have an ok season, trade Stamkos at the deadline to gain assets, the reset for next year.
Vladar from Calgary makes the most sense. Wolf is waiting in the wings for his opportunity and Vladar is better than anything Tampa has remaining.
Could be a long season for Tampa
Vladar is the only goalie I can think off.