Erik Karlsson has no timeline for return after foot surgery

The Ottawa Senators are reporting that there is no timeline for a return for defenseman Erik Karlsson. Karlsson underwent foot surgery during the off-season to repair torn tendons in his left foot.

Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson has no timeline for a return after offseason foot surgery. The 27-year-old underwent surgery to repair torn tendons in his left foot. He played on the torn tendons and foot fractures during the Senators run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Karlsson said on Wednesday that he hasn’t been able to do anything since undergoing surgery. This is not good news with the 2017-18 NHL season just over a month away now.

Karlsson spoke about the injury, surgery and his possible return on Wednesday as well,

"“It’s going to be a while. We’ll see when I can start skating again. We don’t have a timeline for that, either. I think once I do that, we will know a little bit more clearly when I’ll be able to play again.”"

The vagueness of that statement, and the fact that Karlsson and the Senators have no timeline is reason to worry for the organization. Karlsson led the Senators last season in points (71), assists (54) and was fourth in even strength goals (17).

Karlsson was also pivotal to the efficiency of the Senators powerplay, which operated at 17.0% last season, only good for 23rd. One could only guess that without the 24 powerplay points of Karlsson that Ottawa would very likely be operating closer to bottom of the league in that category.

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His production offensively, accompanied by his ability in his defensive zone, led him to be the runner-up for the Norris Trophy, something he has already won once. He finished second in voting to San Jose’s Brent Burns.

Karlsson has played in 556 games to this point of his career, scoring 177 goals, adding 456 assists and having 177 powerplay points as well.