The Tampa Bay Lightning have positioned star middle Steven Stamkos on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body damage, the staff introduced Thursday.
Stamkos has 34 factors in 38 video games for the Lightning this season, with 17 targets and 17 assists.
Stamkos final performed towards the Columbus Blue Jackets on April eight, leaving within the third interval after one shift. He will probably be because of come off LTIR on Could 2, when the Lightning play on the Detroit Red Wings.
Coach Jon Cooper stated on Thursday he did not anticipate Stamkos to play “for the remainder of the week.” The Lightning defeated the Florida Panthers in additional time, Three-2, on Thursday. Tampa Bay stored tempo with the Carolina Hurricanes for first place within the Central Division. Each groups have 60 factors, though Carolina has a recreation in-hand.
On the time of Stamkos’s damage, Cooper would not say if it was related to a core muscle situation that pressured the Lightning captain to overlook all however one recreation of Tampa Bay’s Stanley Cup championship run final summer time.
Stamkos joins former NHL MVP Nikita Kucherov on long-term injured reserve. Kucherov has missed your complete common season after hip surgical procedure. Kucherov has resumed practising in a non-contact jersey, and the Lightning have stated they do not anticipate him again till the playoffs.
Stamkos’s $eight.5 million cap hit will come off the books as he is on LTIR. Kucherov carries a $9.5 million cap hit. The Lightning at the moment shouldn’t have any open cap house.