Despite new injury, Lightning will have Steven Stamkos for season restart

Despite a new injury, Steven Stamkos is expected to be ready when the Lightning restart the season.

When star center Steve Stamkos went down with a core muscle injury in late-February, and had surgery on March 2, his 6-8 week recovery timetable extended into the typical start of the playoffs. But the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the NHL not too far after that, and Stamkos was in line to be ready when/if the season resumed.

The Lightning will start training camp (aka Phase 3 of the NHL’s return to play protocol) on Monday. But general manager Jean BriseBois said Stamkos suffered a lower body injury during Phase 2 voluntary workouts, and will not be a full participant at the start of camp.

According to multiple reports, there is no timeline for when Stamkos will be a full participant in training camp. But he is expected to be ready to go when round robin games are slated to begin in early August. The Lightning will have their first game against the Washington Capitals on Aug. 3, as the top four seeds in the Eastern Conference will be put in order for what will become the traditional 16-team playoff bracket.

”We don’t have a specific timeline for when he will be a full participant in camp, but we expect he will be ready in time for games,” BriseBois said. ”He’s here, he’s skating, he’s been getting treatment, he’s been coming to Amalie (Arena) doing his dry land work.”

Can Steve Stamkos Give Tampa A Stanley Cup-Level Boost?

At the time of his core muscle injury, Stamkos had tallied 66 points (29 goals, 37 assists) in 57 games. The Lightning looked secure in a high playoff seed then, just prior to the league having to shut down. As they now try to get over the playoff hump and win a Stanley Cup, they’re on track to have one of their best players back healthy with very few actual missed games.