It’s been almost a month since Jonathan Ericsson underwent surgery on his broken finger -- a lengthy time to be shelved, but apparently not enough for the injury to fully heal.
Ericsson is unlikely to be available for Detroit’s opening-round playoff series against Boston, GM Ken Holland told the Macomb Daily. The injury, which the club originally thought would only sideline Ericsson for 10-14 days, ended up requiring a 4-6 week timetable, forcing the Swedish blueliner to miss the last 14 games of the regular season.
This has been a crazy year for Ericsson overall. He’s been pretty good when healthy -- scoring 11 points in 48 games while averaging over 21 minutes a night -- and signed a big six-year, $25.5 million extension with Detroit in November. But he’s had absolutely miserable luck health-wise, missing time with rib and shoulder injuries prior to the broken finger.
Not having him available for the opening playoff round will be tough on Detroit, as Ericsson’s one of the club’s most veteran players -- he has 64 games of playoff experience on his resume, and played in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final loss to Pittsburgh.