Last Thursday, Florida Panthers forward Kris Versteeg palyed over 28 minutes in a double-OT loss to the Devils.
On Wednesday, he was under the knife.
That’s the word from the Panthers today as the club said Versteeg successfully underwent surgery to repair a cyst problem that impaired mobility in his left hip. The procedure took place in Nashville.
Getting Versteeg back to full health was a key offseason task for the Panthers. An impending RFA, Versteeg established career-highs in goals (23) and points (54) this year while finishing third on the team in scoring.
Florida GM Dale Tallon told reporters yesterday that keeping Versteeg is high on his priority chart for the summer. The 25-year-old earned $3.08 million annually on his last deal and could be looking for a raise, especially in light of the recent contracts signed by Tuomo Ruutu (four years, $19 million) and Mikhail Grabovski (five years, $27.5 million).