When Senators defenseman Nick Jensen underwent hip surgery after Ottawa’s playoff appearance, it was unclear how long he’d be out for. While a firm timeline remains unknown, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the blueliner’s recovery appears to be ahead of schedule.
Back in May when he had the procedure, GM Steve Staios stated his intent “to address the club’s defence after learning the extent of Jensen’s ailment.” That was a clear suggestion that the initial assessment would be that he’d miss some time at the start of the upcoming season. He indeed addressed the right side of their back end at the draft with the acquisition of right-shot blueliner Jordan Spence from Los Angeles, shoring up their depth on Jensen’s side of the ice.
Jensen’s first season with the Senators was solid despite the fact he played through the injury in the second half of the year as well as the playoffs. Acquired as part of the return for Jakob Chychrun last July, he got into 71 games during the regular season, picking up 21 points while logging over 20 minutes per contest for only the second time in his nine-year career. He was held off the scoresheet in their six playoff outings against Toronto while averaging a little less than 21 minutes per contest.
Suffice it to say, Jensen is a key part of Ottawa’s top four on the back end while the upcoming season is also notable for him as he’s in the final year of his contract that carries an AAV of $4.05MM. He’ll be wanting to demonstrate that he’s fully recovered and worthy of a new agreement that could push past the $5MM mark but as Garrioch notes, hip surgeries generally carry a recovery time of four to six months. If things went absolutely perfectly, he could be ready by the end of training camp but given Jensen’s importance to the team, erring on the side of caution and not rushing him back might make the most sense in the long run, even if he is ahead of schedule in his recovery.