Written by Erik Erlendsson at TBO.com
Life without Steven Stamkos has been a constant story line surrounding the Tampa Bay Lightning this season.
Now, it’s the story line.
Stamkos will miss up one-to-three months after being diagnosed with a blood clot near his right collarbone that will require surgery. The condition was diagnosed Friday and he will undergo a procedure on Monday at Tampa General Hospital to alleviate the clot. He will be on blood thinners for an indefinite period of time before he can resume normal hockey activities.
The type of Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, called Effort Thrombosis, is the same diagnosis as goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who underwent a procedure to remove the top rib on his left arm on September 3. Vasilevskiy was cleared to return to full activity on October 21 and practiced with the team on Oct. 26 before returning to action in a rehab start on Oct. 28.
“We do not anticipate any negative impact on his return to his playing career moving forward,’’ Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said. “Strangely and ironically we dealt with this situation, we know what we are dealing with and are comfortable with the medical team we have and the procedure we are doing.’’
The news was delivered on Saturday less than an hour after Tampa Bay won its home regular season finale, 3-1 against New Jersey to take one step toward clinching a playoff spot for the third consecutive season on the heels of a three-point game from Nikita Kucherov – who scored his 30th goal – and a goal and assist from Victor Hedman.
But now one has to wonder how far this team, which made the Stanley Cup Final last season, can go without the team’s top goal scorer and captain after already losing top defenseman Anton Stralman to a fractured leg last week.
And with Stamkos scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, the real possibility that Stamkos has played his final game with the Lightning became a reality. Any contract talks have not proven to gain any traction to this point and he will be free to sign with any team on July 1 should the two sides not come together on an extension before then.
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