Henrik Lundqvist on the road to recovery, what will his future be?

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In December, future Hall of Fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist made a heartbreaking announcement that he would not be able to play for the Capitals this season.

“It breaks my heart (literally) to share this news: I will not be joining the Capitals this upcoming season,” Lundqvist said in a personal statement on Thursday released via Twitter. “After many weeks of tests and conversations with specialists around the country, it’s been determined that a heart condition will prevent me from taking the ice. Together, we have decided that the risk of playing before remedying my condition is too high, so I will spend the coming months figuring out the best course of action.”

Henrik Lundqvist decides to have open heart surgery

“Last 3 weeks my focus has shifted from training camp and the upcoming season to my health and what I can and can’t do,” Lundqvist posted on social media. “Scheduled for an open heart surgery now – Aortic valve replacement, aortic root and ascending aortic replacement, to be more exact.”

“We all have out mountains to climb. Staying positive here and set on the road to recovery.”

henrik lundqvist
Henrik Lundqvist (Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)

According to Emory Healthcare:

The procedure involves excision of the ascending aorta and underside of the aortic arch, and placement of a thoracic aortic stent graft into the descending aorta at the time of arch repair. The native aortic valve and root are repaired, and the ascending aorta and proximal arch are replaced with a Dacron graft.

Successful Surgery for Henrik Lundqvist

On January 8th, Lundqvist updated his fans and the hockey world on his status. “Surgery went really well. About 5 hours to get it all taken care of. Really appreciate the great staff here at the Clevland Clinic,” he posted on Twitter with a drawing his daughter made for him. “Last few days has been pretty crazy but feel like I’m in really good hands. Every day is a step in the right direction.”

Lundqvist recovering, will he play again?

Henrik Lundqvist posted an update last week as he was released from the hospital after 7 days in recovery. “I’ve spend a lot of days away from my kids over the last 5-8 years because of hockey. The last 9 days felt way different,” Lundqvist said. “It literally warmed my heart pulling up to the driveway.”

“Will stick around in Cleveland for a little bit for more tests before heading back to NYC and continue my recovery/rehab there,” he concluded.

But what does the future hold for Henrik Lundqvist? Bob McKenzie provided a minimal update on opening night during the NBC Telecast, but there wasn’t much report.

He stated that Henrik Lundqvist probably wants to continue his career. We hope he can, but how many NHL teams are going to take that risk? The answer is likely not many.

As we reported months ago, the Rangers and Lundqvist have already worked out a job within the organization when he retires. If he does want to play again his best bet is Frolunda in the SHL. Otherwise, he could get to work with the Rangers as soon as some point later this season.

By Anthony Scultore

Anthony Scultore is the founder of Forever Blueshirts and has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL... More about Anthony Scultore

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