Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom underwent hip surgery; no timetable for his return

There’s no timetable for Backstrom’s return at this stage, but the Capitals noted in their statement that his rehabilitation and recovery process and will be “lengthy.”

Frank Seravalli noted on Twitter that Backstrom might not make it back to the NHL following this procedure. Ryan Kesler had the same surgery in 2019 and never played again, while Ed Jovanovski had it done in 2013 and retired after playing 37 more games following the procedure.

Backstrom missed the first two months of the 2021-22 season due to a nagging hip injury and didn’t debut until December 15. He wound up playing 47 games and scored six goals and 31 points, a career-low in terms of points per game.

He added six points in six games in the playoffs as the Capitals were knocked out in the first round by the Florida Panthers.

Backstrom is headed into the third year of the five-year, $46 million contract he inked with the Capitals back in January 2020. Backstrom started last season on the long-term injured reserve, and if that’s the case again in 2022-23, the Capitals would be given $9.2 million in salary-cap relief to compensate.