ANAHEIM, Calif. – A hallmark of any Stanley Cup Playoff run is the list of injuries announced at its conclusion, as fans learn what their teams played through. Hockey players get labelled as “warriors,” but they also get prescribed a robust offseason healing regimen.
After their first playoff appearance in eight seasons came to a close in a six-game second-round defeat to Vegas last week, the Anaheim Ducks finally announced their injury list on Thursday, and while most injuries were handled, the Ducks’ most-tenured player will now have to reckon with a major lingering ailment.
Troy Terry was diagnosed with a chronic hip impingement, and the 28-year-old will undergo hip surgery this offseason. The date of the surgery and the resulting time off have not been determined yet, but The Sporting Tribune was told Terry will likely miss the start of next season.
Since January, Terry had been battling what was described at the time as an “upper-body injury,” which caused the nine-year veteran to miss 21 games in two different stints on injured reserve.
Terry still played in all 12 of the Ducks playoff games after being allowed “maintenance days” to skip practices and morning skates and receive treatment to be fit enough to play. Terry scored three goals with eight assists for 11 points in those 12 playoff games.
“I give a lot of credit to our medical staff and doctors,” Terry said at exit interviews last week. “Everyone’s dealing with stuff this time of year. It’s just been a bit of a process, maybe just tiring just to get the body ready each night was kind of the hardest part, honestly. It was worth it this time of year to play in these games. Not that it’s fun dealing with that stuff, but it is fun to be in these type of games you want to play in your whole life.”
Terry told The Sporting Tribune he had not been able to lace his own skates since the onset of the injury, but as he did in the playoffs, Terry still managed to be a nearly point-per-game player in the regular season with 57 points in 61 games.
Anaheim’s other headline injury was announced by the player himself, as Cutter Gauthier revealed on exit interview day that he had fractured the L1 and L2 vertebrae in his back.
“Wasn’t a very fun one for sure, playing with a broken back,” Gauthier said. “I was thankful to the training staff that I was able to get back as fast as I did and close to 100% to play. It was definitely lingering in the playoffs for sure.”
The team officially labelled it a transverse process fracture and that Gauthier was cleared to play.
Gauthier suffered the injury on March 30 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he took a cross check to the back before scoring later in the shift. Gauthier gingerly celebrated and grabbed at his back before heading to the locker room.
Gauthier returned 12 days later to finish out the final three games of the regular season and played all 12 playoff games. The 22-year-old scored four goals with eight assists for 12 points in the playoff run.
Gauthier is set for his first big payday of his NHL career, as his entry-level deal expires with a 41-goal season and Anaheim’s leading scorer is a restricted free agent this offseason.
Among the Ducks other injured players were Ryan Poehling, who suffered a concussion in Game 5 in Vegas on a late hit that earned Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb a five-minute major, game misconduct and one-game suspension. Poehling was cleared of concussion symptoms and was said to be improving.
This is the third concussion Poehling has sustained in the NHL. Poehling wears a tinted visor due to that concussion history to manage light sensitivity in the arenas.
Back in the defensive corps, Drew Helleson missed the last three games of the Vegas series with a groin strain, but he will be ready for training camp. Pavel Mintyukov suffered an MCL sprain in his knee late in the regular season, where he missed a handful of games, but the 22-year-old Russian played in all 12 playoff games on the blue line.
Mintyukov is a restricted free agent this offseason, meaning the Ducks still maintain his rights to negotiate a contract.
Ducks captain Radko Gudas missed nine of the Ducks’ final 10 regular season games with a “lower-body injury” playing only against the Maple Leafs to step up for his suspension-incurring injurious hit on Toronto captain Auston Matthews.
Gudas returned for Anaheim’s first playoff game in Edmonton, but after a fall that led to the Oilers’ game-winning goal, the 35-year-old was sidelined with an ankle sprain. Gudas had worked up to being a “game-time decision” late in the Vegas series and was cleared to play had the Ducks advanced to the conference finals.
“Since the injury I had couple years ago, it’s still been lingering the entire time I was here,” Gudas said at exit interviews. “We just didn’t like the way it looked. (The fall in Game 1 in Edmonton) certainly didn’t help, but I don’t want to make that as an excuse. There’s a few other aspects of it.”
Gudas is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and it remains to be seen if the current captain remains in Anaheim’s future plans on the blue line.