TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Tampa Bay Lightning player Victor Hedman had been skating in the hockey playoff games on a broken foot.
The hockey defenseman showed up in a boot after it was revealed he broke his foot in game 4 of the first round of the 2025 playoffs against the Florida Panthers.
Hedman said he woke up the following day, in throbbing pain. Following a CT scan and an MRI, doctors confirmed his foot was fractured.
In a post-game press conference on Thursday, Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois disclosed several other alarming injuries.
On April 11, left winger Oliver Bjorkstrand suffered a left thigh acute compartment syndrome. The covering orthopedic physician made a housecall at 2 a.m. the following morning, after Bjorkstrand’s leg began swelling. Due to the potential bleeding in his leg, he was rushed to the ER and underwent emergency surgery overnight.
“If they hadn’t acted that quickly, the injury, the rehab would’ve been considerably more serious,” BriseBois said. “[The physician’s] service that he provided Oliver that night, he was able to limit the damage and now we expect Oliver to make a full recovery.”
Center Anthony Cirelli suffered an ACL sprain in his right knee in game 1. BriseBois said he is expected to be fine after a few weeks of recovery.
Center Luke Glendening had a dislocated right shoulder (AC-joint separation) in a game on April 9. He missed a few games before returning to the ice in the playoffs.
Yanni Gourde, left wing, played with a broken finger, suffered in game 1 of the playoffs. While another left winger, Brendan Hagel, suffered a concussion.
Right winger Nikita Kucherov suffered an injury to his left hand on Feb. 25, while Center Nicolas Paul suffered a tear in his right wrist and was scheduled to see doctors this week.
“We would expect all these players to be healthy and back for the start of next season,” BriseBois told the media.
The Panthers eliminated the Bolts in round 1 of the playoffs Wednesday night, ending the Lightning’s shot at another Stanley Cup.
BriseBois said he expects the Panthers to be dealing with a similar situation, but said players’ injuries are something the teams have to overcome to win a championship and are not an excuse for not winning a series.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the first puck drop for the 2025-26 season will be on Oct. 7, 2025, according to multiple sources.