Nick Kypreos is reporting that Capitals’ forward Connor Brown is likely out for the year after undergoing ACL surgery.
Brown was acquired by the Capitals to temporarily replace Tom Wilson who is rehabbing from his own offseason ACL reconstruction surgery.
Kypreos said while very unlikely, a return “hasn’t been ruled out” much later this season.
Connor Brown @Capitals had successful ACL surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. Hearing a return this season is highly unlikely but hasn’t been ruled out. @NHL #RealKyperandBourne @FAN590 @Sportsnet
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) November 1, 2022
Brown suffered the injury in the third period of the Capitals’ game against the Vancouver Canucks on October 17. The right wing was checked into the boards hard at center ice. He grabbed at his right leg as he laid on the ice. When he got up, he immediately went down to the Capitals’ locker room.
The Capitals told media that the forward would be out long-term and “surgery might be an option.”
“Connor Brown, we’re still evaluating him,” Laviolette said on the Sports Junkies shortly after Brown got hurt. “Certainly not what we wanted to see with him. He’s such a hard-working and competitive guy on the ice. That was tough to see him leave the game.”
Brown was acquired over the offseason to give the Capitals more depth and help with the team’s penalty kill.
Wilson is out until around December due to tearing the ACL in his knee and requiring offseason surgery. The team also lost right wing TJ Oshie indefinitely to a lower-body injury over the weekend.
Update: The Capitals officially announced Brown’s surgery and say that he’s out the next six to eight months. That would make his return be anywhere from April or June.
#Caps forward Connor Brown, who was injured on October 17 versus Vancouver, underwent a surgical procedure on his right knee to reconstruct his torn ACL. Based on the nature of this procedure, Brown is expected to miss 6-8 months.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 1, 2022
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
