The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without captain Sidney Crosby when training camp opens in a few weeks, as he underwent wrist surgery today. Crosby is expected to miss six weeks, likely meaning he will not be ready for the start of the season. Penguins GM Ron Hextall released a statement explaining why the surgery was done now:
This is not a new injury for Sid. It is something that he has played through for years. After exhausting all minimally-invasive options and much discussion, it was decided that surgery was in his best interest.
Crosby, 34, is no stranger to injury, having played in all 82 games just once in his storied career. Despite that, and whatever discomfort this wrist problem was causing him, the Penguins star has maintained a streak of at least a point-per-game rate in each of his 16 seasons. In 2020-21, he registered 62 points in 55 games, finishing tenth in league scoring and first on the Penguins. That earned him a fourth-place finish in the Hart Trophy voting, with 11 voters actually putting him second behind the unanimous selection of Connor McDavid.
While obviously getting this surgery earlier in the summer would have been better for the Penguins regular season hopes, Crosby still shouldn’t miss much time. Should he return six weeks from today, he would be absent for just four games to start the year, certainly not something that would put a season in jeopardy.
Of course for the Penguins, every game matters as they try to battle for standing in the Metropolitan Division. With Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang now all in their mid-thirties, the challenge of competing for a Stanley Cup seems even greater. With the captain out, it seems likely that Jeff Carter, a trade deadline acquisition last season, and Teddy Blueger, will slide into the top-six center positions for the first few games given Malkin’s own injury concerns. The 35-year-old Malkin underwent knee surgery in June and was not given a definitive timeline other than he will not be available for training camp.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
He waits until start of training camp for surgery?
@emt2807 – Why did he wait? As @Gavin stated (actually Hextall, but I’d rather read @Gavin than listen to Hextall), Sid exhausted all other options. In other words, going under the knife is a last resort in this case. And, if one of the other treatments had promise, but subsequently failed, then surgery must be done.
It’s a good thing slashing is a penalty or I would have said Sid should have had surgery sooner. It might have been risky coming back from surgery too soon.
Good thing we gave away Jared McCann.
Our playoff hopes rest almost solely on Jarry bouncing back to a near Vezina level while at least one of Hart and/or Samsonov soil the bed in an epic manner at the same time.
He’s going to miss one week of games according to time table. We’ll be fine. Relax.
Define “fine”.
Before the Sid news, this team was already going to have to overachieve to lose in the first round of the playoffs.
It said “MINIMUM OF SIX WEEKS”. They could easily go 0-6 to start and then if they have a bad October make it nearly impossible to make the playoffs. It’s hilarious everyone thinks he will ONLY miss the first week.
“Competing for the Stanley Cup?” I can hear UT and the rest of the Yinzers cackling raucously all the way from Pittsburgh.