Tampa Bay Lightning Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy Out 2-3 Months After Vascular Surgery

The Tampa Bay Lightning has announced that prized Russian goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy will be sidelined for two to three months after having a blood clot removed near his left collarbone and to treat a type of Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. The announcement was made by Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman earlier this morning.

Vasilevskiy played 21 games last year for the Lightning and went 7-5-1 with a .918 SV% and a 2.36 GAA. The 21-year-old Russian puck stopper also appeared in a Stanley Cup Finals game last season for the team.

What an unfortunate time for an injury like this. Vasilevskiy was about to begin his first full NHL season and was cemented as the backup goaltender to Ben Bishop.

Now, with Vasi expected to miss at least the first month of the season if not more, the organization will need to decide what they will do to fill the void.

Kristers Gudlevskis has NHL experience, but the plan was for him to have more playing time over Syracuse alongside Adam Wilcox. Now, there is a chance he will be forced to be on the NHL roster as Ben Bishops backup. Another option is picking up a veteran puck stopper in free agency with names like Ray Emery, Josh Harding, and Jonas Gustavsson available.

Whatever the team decides to do, the Tampa Bay Lightning will miss the presence of Vasilevskiy both on the bench and in the net. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in the net sooner rather than later.

Next: Syracuse Crunch Sign Defenseman Charlie Dodero

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