Henrik Lundqvist announces his season with Capitals is over

After making some progress toward a return, Henrik Lundqvist has announced his season with the Washington Capitals is over.

A heart condition, and subsequent open heart surgery in January, has kept Henrik Lundqvist off the ice for the Washington Capitals this season. He progressed to on-ice work in February, which created optimism he might be able to play. Just last week, a report suggested he might be able to return.

But on Sunday, Lundqvist announced his season with the Capitals is over.

Heart surgery is obviously not a light matter. While Lundqvist cited how well things have been going, it’s a process to get back to 100 percent, and the process hasn’t been without concerns or setbacks.

Is Henrik Lundqvist’s career over?

Lundqvist turned 39 in March, so it’s automatically worth wondering about his playing future after what will be a full season out of action. But it doesn’t seem like he’s ready to call it quits based on the work he was doing to get back, and as he gets healthy, he’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. If he’s cleared physically and he can land with a contender as a backup, he could still cap off an otherwise incredibly accomplished career with a Stanley Cup.

If the Capitals are in the market for a veteran goalie ahead of Monday’s trade deadline, having full clarity on Lundqvist’s status is only helpful. They may have assumed they wouldn’t have him anyway, given the uncertainty of his situation. But now they know for sure.

Whether Lundqvist ever appears between the pipes again is a background point to his overall health. But hopefully we haven’t seen the last of him, and with good health comes an opportunity to finish out a Hall-of-Fame career in the way he’d like to.