Photo credit: sovsport.ru

Last Friday, Washington Capitals top prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov was injured in Traktor Chelyabinsk’s game against Vityaz. After absorbing a legal hit from Maxim Rybin, Kuznetsov immediately skated off the ice holding his shoulder. The next day, Kuznetsov — who’s had a long history with shoulder injuries — headed to Germany to get examined.

On Monday, the Russian media was its normal self, breaking false news about the injury, which was eventually refuted. But today, All Sport’s Alexey Shevchenko published an interview with the horse’s mouth, getting an explanation. RMNB’s Fedor Fedin has your translation.

The preliminary diagnosis is a fracture of the shoulder capsule. The doctor said the preliminary recovery time is four to six weeks. But tomorrow I’ll undergo the new evaluation and it may result in a correction in the rehab timetable. It’s unclear what’s up with the nerve — it took time for the doctors to figure it out today. But anyway, on Sept. 11th I’ll go home. The doctor said that during the rehab any physical activity is prohibited. In three to four weeks I’ll have to come back to Munich to get my condition checked.

While this injury is serious, it looks like Kuznetsov will be able to return in time to showcase his game to Russian national team executives before the Olympics. Let’s  hope the 21-year-old can be patient enough to let his injury heal fully.