The Washington Capitals were dealt a serious injury blow when star defenseman John Carlson took a Brenden Dillon slap shot to the head on December 23. Carlson left the game immediately as he was bleeding profusely onto the ice and was immediately sent to a local hospital to get checked out. Carlson was discharged from the hospital the next day, and has not been around the team since.

The Caps placed Carlson on injured reserve on December 27. Head coach Peter Laviolette then gave the first real update on the defender’s condition, saying the veteran blueliner “was doing good” but that he’d be “out longterm.”

He added, “If it was two (games) to seven (days), our lingo, we’d say day-to-day. But, he’ll be past day-to-day.”

Now, Tarik El-Bashir, via a report in The Athletic, has revealed a better idea of when Carlson may return and it does not sound like it’ll be any time soon.

El-Bashir writes in his story that Carlson’s “recovery has been described to me in terms of months, not weeks” and that “[t]eam officials are hopeful the No. 1 defenseman plays again well before the playoffs.” An estimated return date for Carlson is “late in the regular season”.

Carlson and his $8 million cap hit will likely be placed on long-term injured reserve when Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom are ready to return, giving the team flexibility to bring those star players back onto the ice.

Being without Carlson for the immediate future will be a tough pill to swallow for a Capitals team with not a ton of experienced, top-end defensive depth and that has already spent much of the season ravaged by injury. Currently, offseason acquisition Erik Gustafsson and Trevor van Riemsdyk are skating as the team’s “first pairing”.

Through December 28, no team, according to the invaluable NHLInjuryViz resource, has been as impacted more by injury this season as the Capitals. It’s not even particularly close and will only get worse as more time with Carlson out of the lineup passes.

In 30 games for the Caps this season, Carlson has recorded 21 points (8g, 13a). He is also the team’s time-on-ice leader as he plays on average 23:24 of ice time per game.

This is Carlson’s second stint on the injured reserve already this season. He suffered a lower-body injury against the Nashville Predators in late October that kept him out of the lineup for six games.

The Caps went 1-3-2 in that previous stretch without Carlson. They have started far better after this most recent Carlson injury, going 2-0-1 in three games since that home matchup with the Jets. But, it sure sounds like this time around they’ll need to continue that sort of success for a far longer spell of games without their top rearguard.

Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB