It was uncovered earlier this morning and confirmed by the Washington Capitals that center Nicklas Backstrom had arthroscopic hip surgery yesterday afternoon.
The discovery was made by “Malin” in a report that shows screen shots of two Instagram users having a conversation about Backstrom.
The one user, Chris Cassady, who golfed with Backstrom at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland this week replied to another user adding that Backtrom said he was going to have hip surgery.
According to Cassady’s instagram reply to another user, his friend’s aunt won a round of golf with Backstrom at an auction and gave it to his friend who, in turn, invited him. All this can be seen in Malin’s report.
The Washington Capitals sent out a statement this morning that reads:
“Nicklas Backstrom underwent a successful arthroscopic surgery on his hip on Wednesday afternoon. Based on the nature of this procedure, we are confident that Nick will be completely healthy prior to the start of the 2015-16 regular season.”
When meeting with the press two weeks ago, Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan stated he was not aware that any players would require offseason surgery.
During exit interviews prior to MacLellan’s statement, Backstrom himself said he was not banged up.
Backstrom played in all 82 regular season games for the Capitals in 2014-2015. He recorded 18 goals and 60 assists and was Washington’s second leading point scorer with 78 points.
For Backstrom, the 2014-2015 season marked the second straight 60+ assist season and the fourth in his career.
During the post season he played in all 14 games and added three goals and five assists.
Backstrom also won the most face-offs in the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, winning 89 total face-offs. Backstrom’s face-off win percentage was the second highest in the first round of players taking 100+ face-offs, only trailing the Calgary Flames’ center Matt Stajan.