Sidney Crosby has wrist surgery, out at least six weeks

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Wednesday afternoon that their captain Sidney Crosby has undergone a wrist surgery and is out for at least six weeks. From the team:

And the press release:

The procedure to Crosby’s left wrist was performed by Dr. Robert Hotchkiss of New York, in collaboration with team physician, Dr. Dharmesh Vyas of UPMC.

The 34-year-old center will miss the start of training camp and is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of six weeks.

“This is not a new injury for Sid. It is something that he has played through for years,” said Penguins general manager Ron Hextall. “After exhausting all minimally-invasive options and much discussion, it was decided that surgery was in his best interest.”

As Hextall alluded to, this is the second September in a row that Crosby has had work done on his wrist. On 9/1/2020, Crosby had an arthroscopic procedure that would keep him out 3-4 weeks. That was a lot less pressing this time last year, since the NHL season wasn’t going to start until January. That surgery was also in New York with Dr. Hotchkiss.

It’s interesting the Penguins say “miss the start of training camp” and also in the same sentence “is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of six weeks”, being as the open of the regular season is October 12th in Tampa. According to the trusty calendar, that is just 4 weeks, 6 days away from today, the day the surgery happened. If they hold to the six week minimum timeline and the NHL season starts on time, it would appear Crosby will not only miss the “start” of training camp, but all of training camp could miss the start of the regular season. The Pens have four regular season games before six whole weeks from today (which is October 20th, if you’re keeping track of this now important date).

No one ever wants to undergo a heavy surgical procedure, so the Pens’ captain was no doubt rehabbing and trying to get it right without this step, but now that we’re getting closer to the start of the season, now is the time to take care of it now before getting knocked out for six+ weeks of the regular season or dealing with the limitations of an injured wrist all year long again.

The Penguins down the middle now look very shaky, with Evgeni Malkin expected to miss time as well following a June knee surgery. Time will tell if the team looks to address these absences by adding any other centers, but you can’t really replace No. 87 or No. 71, so the team may be back to an all-too-familiar mode holding down the fort until their star players heal up and can return.