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Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev underwent surgery to stabilize the tibia and fibula in his left leg on Thursday and will return home in the coming days to immediately begin rehabilitation. the team has announced.
No timeline was provided for his return.
Sergachev was stretchered off the ice at Madison Square Garden during Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Rangers after taking a reverse hit from Alexis Lafrenière and having his left leg bend awkwardly under his body as he fell to the ice.
That came the night Sergachev returned to Tampa’s lineup after missing seven weeks due to another undisclosed lower-body injury. The 25-year-old shared an emotional message on his personal Instagram page after the game and accompanied it with a photo of him burying his face in a towel as he was carried off the ice.
“Oh man, why me? Because right now?” he wrote. “After all the lost games, coming back and getting injured again feels unfair, terrible. I try to stay calm and positive, but it’s impossible. After doing everything right I get this. The universe is unpredictable, I guess, and has its own plans, but damn, universe man, I know I’ll come back stronger and I know I’ll play better than before, but it’s hard now, and it’s going to be hard. tomorrow.”
While Sergachev’s season was limited to just 34 games played (he recorded two goals and 19 points), he has been a vital part of the Lightning’s lineup. Only Victor Hedman (24:35) has played more minutes per game for the team this year than his 22:33.
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In the short term, they will continue as they did during January, with Darren Raddysh taking a larger role alongside Hedman on the top pair. The Lightning have managed to put things right this season with a rotating cast of depth defensemen, including Emil Martinsen-Lilleberg, a Norwegian-born, SHL-prepared free agent who signed last summer and who has made a notable impact of late.
However, with an eye toward the March 8 trade deadline, watch as Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois attacks in his usual fashion.
He had already been monitoring the available defensemen in the league before Sergachev’s injury. He will now potentially earn an additional $8.5 million in long-term injury reserve space to play with as he looks for improvements, depending on how quickly Sergachev can return to form.
If it is determined that Sergachev will not return before the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Lightning hope to have clarity on his rehab status by March 8, that would leave Tampa free to use all of the LTIR space created by the salary. by Sergachev. being transferred.
BriseBois has earned a reputation as a shrewd deadline operator after giving up two first-round picks to acquire Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow and then watching them form two-thirds of a highly effective third line that helped propel Tampa to win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
They also gave up multiple first-round picks to acquire Brandon Hagel while also signing Nick Paul at the 2022 deadline and giving up five draft picks to acquire Tanner Jeannot last year.
While the Lightning are running out of available draft capital (BriseBois is without their first, second and fourth round picks this year, plus their 2025 first rounder), they maintain a wild card position in the Eastern Conference and will want to stay aggressive with a strong core and captain Steven Stamkos playing the final year of his contract.
“As a general manager, you look for opportunities to exploit and threats to mitigate. It’s a 365-day-a-year effort,” BriseBois told reporters last month. “The difference is that near the trade deadline, there are more opportunities because you end up with more teams making players available. But we are always looking for opportunities to improve our chances of success and this trade deadline is no different.”
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(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)