The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that center Brayden Point will be out at least till the end of October after undergoing hip surgery this spring.
#tblightning GM Julien BriseBois clarified Brayden Point’s status, that he underwent hip surgery this summer and early plan was that he’d be ready by late October. Not expected to play in any preseason games or be ready to play opening night. Hoping to get him back ASAP
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) September 23, 2019
Brayden Point Injured
Last season, Point had a career year scoring 41 goals and adding 51 assists for 92 points to go along with 28 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 51.9 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of +0.7.
Point has spent his entire three-year career with the Bolts. He has 91 goals and 107 assists for 198 career points in 229 career games. He was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round, 79th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft.
What This Means for the Future
This is a huge loss for the Lightning as Point was one of their top scorers last season. He finished second in goals and third in points in team scoring last season. The news of the injury came shortly after Point signed a three-year deal with the Lightning earlier today. With Point out of the line-up, the Bolts will move Tyler Johnson up to the first line and Anthony Cirelli will centre the second line. As much as Point is a huge part of the line-up Tampa still has Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov who will look to lead the Lightning offensively until point returns to the lineup.
This came as somewhat of a surprise seeing that there was no news on Point’s injury until now and he didn’t miss time last year due to this injury. Some good news regarding the injury is that his recovery is going well and he is feeling close to normal. He’s expected to join the team soon but will be in a no-contact jersey. Expect the Lightning to take off once Point is able to rejoin the lineup.
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