Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Devils’ iron man Travis Zajac to miss three months after suffering torn Achilles tendon

Montreal Canadiens v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - APRIL 02: Travis Zajac #19 of the New Jersey Devils skates during an NHL hockey game against the Montreal Canadians at the Prudential Center on April 2, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Perhaps it’s time for Devils players to be put in bubble wrap when doing summer workouts to prepare for the season. Last summer, Zach Parise initially injured his knee preparing for training camp, an injury he’d ignore and try to battle through but ultimately needed surgery on to fix, killing most of his 2010-2011 season.

This summer it’s Travis Zajac being bitten by the injury bug as he tore his left Achilles tendon doing offseason workouts and had surgery to repair it on today knocking the Devils top centerman out for at least the next 8-10 weeks.

Zajac was set to play once again as the Devils #1 center and work with Parise just like how they always did, but with Zajac’s injury that reunion will take a little while. As Devils GM Lou Lamoriello told Fire & Ice’s Tom Gulitti, Zajac’s road to getting back on the ice is going to be a bit longer than what the Devils website claims.

Lamoriello said Zajac’s recovery will take “three months” from today.

Zajac, who lives in his hometown of Winnipeg in the off-season, tore his Achilles while doing plyometrics during an off-ice training session on Wednesday.

“It was repaired this morning at 9:30 in Winnipeg,” Lamoriello said. “It was a success—a simple operation. It’s just timing and healing.”

Lamoriello said the surgery was conducted by a doctor in Winnipeg that the team is familiar with.

“We know the doctor up there and we had a conference call with our medical people with Travis and everyone on the phone,” Lamoriello said. “We made a decision that he is there (so do the surgery there). MRIs were taken, all the proper preparation prior. We were totally comfortable with the doctor that did it, so it was successful and now it’s just a healing process.”


Zajac had played in 401 consecutive games for the Devils, setting a team record in the process, but that’s all done now. The Devils will have to figure out what they’re going to do in the meantime with Zajac set to miss the start of the season. While it’s not ideal, at least Zajac will be back early enough into the season so as to not to totally submarine their season from the get-go. That said, the Devils’ other options up the middle aren’t exactly appealing or overly experienced.

The Devils have guys like Dainius Zubrus, David Steckel, Jacob Josefson, and Rod Pelley that can line up at center but their best bet is likely going to be Patrik Elias. Elias is normally a better fit on the wing, but with the Devils having more than enough options at his natural left wing, putting him back at center where he’s a faceoff liability might help the offense click better, especially with Parise back at full speed.

It’ll be just a short term fix and coach Peter DeBoer will work things out in training camp, but starting off a season that’s not even into training camp yet like this gives everyone in New Jersey a reason to be nervous.