While the Blues mostly spent their day announcing their upcoming promo schedule for the new season, they also announced that Jori Lehtera had ankle surgery on his right ankle back on August 4th. Lehtera’s injury reportedly occurred at the end of last season and the team waited until the swelling went down before making a decision on how to move forward.
The injury happened late in the regular season. Blues opted for rest over surgery, but when Lehtera resumed skating, it was still nagging.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) August 10, 2015
Army: "The hope was time would have the ankle settle down but he was still sore…we acted so he would be ready for the start of the season"
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) August 10, 2015
This news may place some scrutiny on when the Blues decided to award Lehtera with his contract extension which will kick in beginning in 2016-17. Lehtera shouldn’t have any lingering issues with his ankle (knock on wood), but it’s always a bit risky to grant a player a pricey extension while they’re injured.
Lehtera’s timeline places him returning around the middle or the end of September. This may open the door for another player to step up in training camp (Robby Fabbri, maybe) but it sounds like Lehtera’s surgery shouldn’t play a major role in 2015-16 barring any setbacks.
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