Left-wing Carl Hagelin skated prior to the Washington Capitals’ practice on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing two surgeries on his eye, the first of which occurred on March 3. The 34-year-old also had a procedure done on his hip on October 11. However, he will not suit up for game action anytime soon.
Laviolette on Carl Hagelin skating today before optional practice:
“How good is that to see. He’s out there just testing, just seeing where he’s at. … Just wanted to get a feel. He’s still in the distant future. ”
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) December 28, 2022
Hagelin was injured during a practice on March 1 when he caught a stick up high from a teammate. He skated on his own during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Hagelin stated after last season that he will never regain 100% of his vision.
He averaged 1:54 on the penalty-kill (second among Capitals forwards at the time he was hurt) and scored three goals and 14 points in 53 games last season.
Hagelin has not played since a 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 28.
By Harrison Brown
Hope that he recovers and gets healthy however I hope that he does not get well enough to play this season. being that he is not only on LTIR but also a UFA after this season there is no need to rush him back as the players playing now are just as good or better!! So thanks for the time Hags and maybe you hook up with a team in Sweden. Oh and one favor please…..take Backy with you!!
I don’t know how he would even figure in. I had always somewhat assumed he was a scratch for the entire season.
I figured the same and the same with Backy. Wilson I thought maybe late Jan or early Feb. Still even if Wilson gets cleared to play why mess with the team chemistry? That is going to be the problem with the guys on IR or LTIR coming back this season; fitting into the team chemistry that has been created and working well now. If something changes in a month then all bets are off.
I found this about the Red Wings interesting (from THW): “For the Detroit Red Wings, with the beginning of January comes a handful of players returning to the lineup after missing time with injury. Considering the fact that the Red Wings have technically never iced a fully-healthy lineup this season, this is certainly welcome news. But with so many bodies slated to return to the lineup over the next few weeks and only 23 roster spots to go around, some big decisions loom in terms of who will be moved off the roster to make room for the returning players. Needless to say, there are some tough decisions coming up for the Red Wings. Asset management is going to be key here. Yzerman will have to make sure he retains the players that make his team better while also making sure that he is able to extract value from players that may not have a spot on the roster anymore. Having too many NHL-quality players is a good problem to have, but it is a problem nonetheless. How the Red Wings go about solving this problem over the next few weeks will go a long way towards determining how the rest of their 2022-23 season will go.”
Sounds awfully familiar to questions being asked here.