Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell announced that winger Andrei Svechnikov will undergo surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee on Thursday morning. As a result, Svechnikov will miss the remainder of the 2022-23 regular season as well as the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"After further consultation with global experts in this field, it has been determined that the best course of action for Andrei's future is to have this surgery, and to have it done by our team orthopedist, Dr. Marty Isbell," Waddell said in a statement. "We're confident that Andrei will make a full recovery."
Svechnikov suffered the injury during the second period of Saturday's 4-0 loss against the Vegas Golden Knights. The 22-year-old did return to play in the third period, but the team stated on Monday that they feared that Svechnikov may have suffered a torn ACL and were awaiting further testing to confirm the injury.
Svechnikov currently ranks third on the Hurricanes in both points (55) and goals (23) in 64 games this season. The Carolina forward represented the Hurricanes in his first career All-Star Game appearance last month. In five seasons with the Hurricanes, Svechnikov has recorded 112 goals and 152 assists in 347 career games.
The injury to Svechnikov is just the latest brutal blow to a Hurricanes team that had Stanley Cup aspirations entering the 2022-23 season. Fellow winger Max Pacioretty missed the first four months of the season as he recovered from an Achilles injury. Pacioretty returned to the ice on Jan. 5, but he suffered a torn Achilles once again on Jan. 19 against the Minnesota Wild and was lost for the season.
The Hurricanes are currently tied for first place in the Metropolitan Division (94 points) with the New Jersey Devils.
