Bobby Bevilacqua

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

The Rangers broke some surprising news today, announcing that Oscar Lindberg had already underwent a successful simultaneous bilateral hip labral repair. The recovery time should be about six months or so.

This is a somewhat common surgery that isn’t uncommon in athletes. Mackenzie Skapski had surgery to repair a torn labrum last season. Lindberg had the surgery on both of his hips. A six month recovery time would mean that he is healthy in November, but potentially not game ready.

This surgery may explain a few things, like perhaps that’s why Vigneault sat him more frequently down the stretch. Lindberg did play in the playoffs, including Game 5, but he was used sparingly after the trade deadline.

This also has some serious implications on how the Rangers approach the offseason. It was widely believed that the Rangers were going to move on from Dominic Moore and have Lindberg take over the fourth line center role. But if Lindberg won’t be game-ready until November or December, it way force the Rangers to have a backup plan for his position. Maybe this means Moore will get another one year deal.

This also means that the Rangers can’t dangle him as trade bait. Lindberg would be an attractive piece for any team considering his youth, his solid rookie season and the strong all-around game that he plays. Lindberg could have been used to get some draft pick or to sweeten the deal in a salary dump trade, but that option is off of the table now.

Lindberg’s injury hurts the Rangers now and at the start of the season, even if he will likely recover just fine after the six months. Jeff Gorton will have to alter his plan of attack for the coming months.

The Rangers tend to break their own news, so stay tuned for potentially more in the coming days/weeks.