Victor Hedman will have a procedure on his elbow on Monday and the Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman is expected to return in time to play for Sweden at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in February.
Hedman was placed on injured reserve Thursday because of an undisclosed injury. The Lightning captain was injured in a 6-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, his third game back after missing 12 with an undisclosed injury.
Prior to an 8-4 win against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Hedman was going to get second opinions on this injury.
Hedman, who will turn 35 on Thursday, was one of six players named to Team Sweden's preliminary roster for the Olympics. He has 12 assists in 18 games this season.
Selected by Tampa Bay with the No. 2 pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, Hedman has 806 points (171 goals, 635 assists) in 1,149 regular-season games and 120 points (23 goals, 97 assists) in 170 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
He won the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top defenseman, in 2017-18, the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021, and the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player of the postseason, in 2020.
Hedman ranks first in Lightning history in games and first among defenseman in goals, assists and points.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has missed the past five games with a undisclosed injury, practiced Friday and could return when the Lightning play the Florida Panthers on Monday. Vasilevskiy last played on Dec. 2, when he made 22 saves in a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders. He is 11-6-2 with a 2.31 goals-against average, .917 save percentage and one shutout in 19 starts this season.
