Steven Stamkos injury update: Conference finals return?

The Lightning could be getting Steven Stamkos very soon as he appeared at practice wearing a regular jersey.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals despite not having the services of their captain Steven Stamkos. Stamkos has been out since April 2 with severe blood clots. That might not sound very serious, but keep in mind that blood clots haunted former NHL forward Pascal Dupuis and forced him to retire.

Stamkos has said that as long as he still has to take blood thinners, he can’t play. He has been practicing with the team for a while in a non-contact jersey. That non-contact jersey was replaced with a regular jersey for Friday’s practice.

It appears that Stamkos could be making his return for the Eastern Conference Finals. He likely wouldn’t be wearing the regular jersey if he was still on blood thinners, meaning that he is most likely off of blood thinners. Stamkos said that he could be back very shortly once he is off his blood thinners.

While blood clots are something that sometimes won’t go away permanently, it seems Stamkos is good enough to play at some point during the Eastern Conference Finals.

Getting Stamkos back, even if it is in a reduced role, would be a huge lift for the Lightning. Stamkos is one of the best in the world at scoring goals and they’ll need every goal that they can get to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. The rest of the NHL should be scared because it appears that the shorthanded Lightning are getting their injured players back.

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