It was the silver lining on what is an altogether dark cloud.
The Islanders had their star John Tavares back at the Coliseum on Tuesday, and despite suffering a season-ending knee injury while playing for Team Canada in the Olympics, the 23-year-old center said an inspection with team doctors showed he will not need surgery.
With an awkward hit into the boards by Latvia’s Arturs Kulda, Tavares partially tore the MCL and the meniscus in his left knee. It forced him to miss Canada’s final two games en route to winning the gold medal, but it won’t stop him from being ready for next season’s training camp.
The rehab and recovery time is expected to be between eight and 12 weeks, allowing Tavares the full time he usually has for an offseason workout regimen.
“Just going to have to take my time and make sure I get healthy,” Tavares said, “and do all the things to get me back to where I need to be.”
The biggest issue coming out of the injury is not the fate of the Islanders – at 12 points out of a playoff spot and six teams to leapfrog with 22 games remaining, with or without their best player, the season was pretty well lost. Instead, an injury in the Olympics to a player who is a reigning Hart Trophy finalist has underscored the risk NHL teams are taking by participating.
It led Islanders general manager Garth Snow to join the group of league executives who have been harshly critical of the process, telling Newsday the day after Tavares’ injury, “It’s a joke. They want all the benefits from NHL players in Olympics and don’t want to pay when our best player gets hurt.”
He was referring to the Islanders having to pay the whole of Tavares $5 million contract (a salary-cap hit of $5.5 million through the next four years) without help from insurance, because he was not hurt playing for the team.
That situation has put in question what the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, might look like, muddied further by the players’ enthusiasm for the Olympics that was echoed by Tavares despite his career setback.
“For me, as a player, I think it’s important for us to play,” Tavares said. “I think you saw how much we love representing our countries, especially at that level. But if you put yourself in [Snow’s] shoes, you understand why teams are concerned about their players and injuries.
“Certainly I know he cares a lot about the Islanders and this organization, and so do I,” the captain continued. “There is always that concern, but with this game, there is always that risk, anytime you step on the ice, the possibility of injury. It’s obviously a tough situation, but I certainly love playing for my country, and if I got the call again, I would.”
The Islanders had forwards Ryan Strome, Anders Lee and Mike Halmo at practice one day after their call-ups from AHL Bridgeport. With winger Matt Martin (lower body) unlikely to be ready for Thursday’s resumption of schedule with the Maple Leafs at the Coliseum, and with center Frans Nielsen (broken hand) out indefinitely, odds are all three rookies will play.