Penguins’ Kris Letang out 4-6 months with neck injury

Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman Kris Letang and head coach Mike Sullivan talk about Letang being forced to miss the playoffs due to injury.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will be without Kris Letang until next season.

The team announced Wednesday that the defenceman is set to undergo neck surgery to repair a herniated disc with the expected recovery time being 4-6 months.

“Kris underwent an MRI in February that revealed a herniated disc in his neck,” Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford stated in a press release. “Our neurosurgeons examined him and recommended conservative treatment in an attempt to correct the condition without surgery. Kris had been making progress and was hopeful of returning for the playoffs until about a week ago, when the progress plateaued. He underwent another MRI, and, at that point it was determined that surgery was needed.”

The oft-injured blueliner hasn’t played since Feb. 21 and hasn’t practised since Feb. 24. How Letang suffered the injury is unclear and the team had been vague about his status leading some to believe it was either concussion- or stroke-related. The soon-to-be-30-year-old suffered a stroke in 2014 and has missed time during his career dealing with concussion symptoms.

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan poured cold water on those rumours in early March.

“There’s just been so much speculation around Kris’ injury. What I will confirm is that it’s not a concussion, it’s not related to a stroke or anything of that nature,” Sullivan told reporters at the time. “Kris has an upper-body injury, he’s rehabbing the injury at home as we speak. We’re hopeful here that he’ll have a quick turnaround and we’ll get him back in the lineup.”

Letang had five goals and 29 assists in 41 games this season.

The Penguins are a banged-up group with the playoffs just around the corner. Evgeni Malkin has been out since March 15, Chris Kunitz and Carl Hagelin are out with a lower-body injuries, and they’ve been without defencemen Olli Maatta and Trevor Daley since February. Despite all the injuries, Pittsburgh has scored the most goals in the league and only the Washington Capitals have more points in the standings.

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