Mattias Ohlund hasn’t played in a game yet this season and it’s looking more and more likely that we won’t see him at all this season.
Damian Cristodero of the Tampa Bay Times reports GM Steve Yzerman has said Ohlund isn’t skating and there’s no timetable for Ohlund’s return from arthroscopic surgery on both knees. While Ohlund has been around the team a little bit this year, the chances of him rejoining the Lightning on the ice are looking pretty slim.
Both Yzerman and coach Guy Boucher enjoy having Ohlund around with the team while he’s out of action as he’s a veteran leader. They’ll have to hope that he can come back at all, however, as he’s got four years remaining on his contract with the team. With a cap hit of $3.6 million per year according to Cap Geek, making sure that Ohlund stays healthy for the long run is important.
Without Ohlund the Lightning have struggled on defense this year. Ohlund along with other defensive injuries have made life harder on goalies Dwayne Roloson and Mathieu Garon to stop pucks.