The Washington Capitals announced this on Saturday afternoon Nicklas Backstrom had hip surgery.
The surgery was a success and the Capitals say his recovery process will be “long”.
#caps Center Nicklas Backstrom underwent left hip resurfacing Friday. The operation was performed at the ANCA clinic in Belgium. Backstrom will begin his rehabilitation and lengthy recovery process immediately.
– CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) June 18, 2022
Backstrom had previous hip surgery seven years ago. He missed the first two months of the 2021-22 season while rehabilitating an injury to the same hip. In 47 games he scored six goals and 25 assists.
On Breakdown Day, Backstrom revealed he was still having issues.
“Like I said, the hip isn’t going to be 100 percent,” Backstrom said. “We all know that. Some days are good, some not so good. So life is.”
Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said last season’s run wasn’t sustainable for Backstrom, “not the way it is. It is difficult for him to play. He has a few things in mind that he wants to try and we’ll go from there.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in May that if Backstrom decides to have surgery, he would face a “grueling, grueling” rehabilitation process.
I think that might be that if he’s facing some sort of surgery, which might be judging by his comments, for a guy who’s had the miles that Backstrom has had, it has to come back a lot. There were some rumors he weighed in and it makes sense with what he said. It’s not just the injury but the surgery you might have and the recovery from it. And it’s a big deal. It’s a big challenge. I don’t know if that means he’s retiring or maybe he has to take a year off or something. I don’t have all of these answers. But the only thing I’ve heard is that if he gets surgery as indicated for his injuries, it’s a grueling, grueling thing and not inconsiderable.
If Backstrom fails to return, he will likely retire as the Capitals’ all-time top assist (747) and only the second Capital to ever reach 1,000 points with the team.
Backstrom has three years left on a five-year, $46 million contract, which he signed in January 2020. His cap hit is $9.2 million.
Headline photo: Amanda Bowen/RMNB