Lightning’s playoff injuries: Point’s quad tear, a ‘mangled finger,’ more

Learning about Briden Pointinjuries and other frustrating issues that the Lightning players have struggled through to try and win the Stanley Cup, two questions come to mind.

Do players go too far when playing with injuries? not just hurt during the playoffs? And how badly will the Tampa Bay Lightning be hit when they enter the 2022-23 regular season?

Point, Kucherov and other Lightning players struggled with nasty playoff injuries

Joe Smith of The Athletic listed many of the Lightning’s injuries, including those that plagued Briden Point and a limited number of injuries. Nikita Kucherov:

Injuries stemming from today’s exit interviews
McDonagh – crippled finger in ECF
Cirelli – both shoulders
Hagel / foot fracture
Bellmare – meniscus before the playoffs
Gender – MCL stretching in final
Kucherov – MCL stretching in the final
Perry – Shoulder Sprain in ECF#GoBolts

— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) June 28, 2022

Ryan McDonagh“Mutilated finger” is one of those phrases that can spin in the brain for years.

The thought of hockey culture may have been too much of an injury battling when Braden Point… compared his tears.

Bryden Point said he didn’t feel capable of being effective. “I have had tears in the past that you can still find your way and you can still play and still be effective. This one was different, it just didn’t have the power, the tight corners and all that.” pic.twitter.com/iY5mwqNNnB

— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) June 28, 2022

After an admiring look at the oddity of scoring various muscle ruptures, consider that Briden Point was at its best. Although he prepared courageously for Game 1 and Game 2 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals, his mobility was severely limited. Point’s high hockey IQ remained the same, but the Lightning had their hands full (and needed to keep their feet moving) against the fast Avalanche.

After the Lightning’s run for the Stanley Cup ended in Game 6, John Cooper opened up about their injuries. He opined that if it were a regular season game, “half of their AHL team” would be called.

As you can see from the list above, Tochka (square tear), Kucherov (knee), Pierre Edouard Bellemare (knee), Anthony Cirelli (shoulder/collarbone), Corey Perry (shoulder), Brandon Hagel (foot) and Ryan McDonagh (toe) received special mention. Looks like Cirelli got multiple shoulder injuries, and need surgery.

#Bolts Stamkos: “The last 3 years have been long, exhausting. We’re having another short off-season right now, but I’m sure this group will need some time to recharge. Then let’s get back to work… We’ll find a way. We have in the past, so it’s an expectation.”

— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) June 28, 2022

Given all the shot blocking, there could be other Lightning players with lingering playoff injuries. Eric Chernak seemed increasingly uncertain as the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals wore on. Stephen Stamkos began to really accumulate shot blocks.

As for the Avalanche, we may get playoff/Stanley Cup Finals injury information later this week. For now, think about what happened to Valery Nichushkinleg.

According to a league source, Valery Nichushkin suffered a foot injury last night and was unable to put on his skates without medical attention. Once he put on his skates, the question arose of how to play through the pain, which he did for nearly 23 minutes on the ice. pic.twitter.com/VFTaWzhVgU

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) June 27, 2022

(I’m sorry.)

Losses of free agents can threaten absences, not just injuries; Questions About the Lightning Annual Pay Cap

Combine injuries with complete fatigue and you wonder if the Lightning can get off to a slow start to the 2022-23 season.

The Lightning could also be left without some key players, depending on the decisions of the free agents.

• Ondrej Palat, 31, continued to score clutch goals. Can the Lightning continue their “How did they keep this free agent” streak? signing with Palat? The evolution of hockey contract predictions spit out a possible three-year contract with a ceiling of $5.56 million. Would it take even less Chamber to stay with Lightning? Will the other team offer a little more (in years and/or terms) to get a first-line Lightning asset?
• While the Lightning were traded for someone under team control in Brandon Hagel, they also got a great trade for Nicholas Paul. After playing for several bad Senators teams, Paul clearly appreciated this lightning run. However, this run also likely put Paul on a lot of extra radar. He said the right things about coming backbut who knows?

[Palat and other players who drove up their value during the playoffs]

To their credit, the Lightning don’t just look to the short term when making salary cap decisions. This is key as the Lightning could expand three hugely important players this offseason: Anthony Cirelli (24, $4.8 million), Mikhail Sergachev (24 years old, $4.8 million) and Eric Chernak (25 years old, $2.95 million).

Each of these players is worth a lot of more than those cap numbers. With Lightning forever scratching the salary ceilingit is hard to imagine that they kept Cirelli, Sergachev and Chernak without losing one or more Palats and Paul.

All this turns into a real test for the Lightning – to climb the mountain of the playoffs again. They may well take these first steps quite carefully.

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James O’Brien writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Write to him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.