Sunday, with his teammates in Las Vegas readying to face off with the Golden Knights in their final game before a bye week, Rangers' forward Chris Kreider underwent successful rib resection surgery, the team announced on Tuesday.
The surgery took place 11 days after the team's medical personnel removed Kreider from a Dec. 27 game against the Capitals because of swelling in his right arm. Taken to the hospital that night, Kreider was found to have a blood clot in the swollen arm. Last week, doctors determined the rib resection was necessary.
A rib resection is commonly performed for those suffering from thoracic outlet syndrome, and is a surgery several athletes -- including New York Mets pitcher, and avid Rangers fan, Matt Harvey -- have had in recent years. All or part of the first rib is removed during a resection to reduce pressure that can cause dangerous blood clots. The first rib is the one closest to the head.
However, the Rangers never stated if Kreider has TOS, just that he required the surgery.
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The team said Tuesday that Kreider will be evaluated in six weeks to see when, or if, he returns to the Rangers lineup this season. Lightning superstar Steven Stamkos had the same surgery two years ago and missed seven weeks of action. His Lightning teammate Andrei Vasilevskiy also had a rib resection and missed six weeks in 2015.
The 26-year-old Kreider led the Rangers with a career-high 28 goals last season and scored 21 or more each of the last three years. This season he has 11 goals, 11 assists and 22 points in 37 games. He missed the last three games after being diagnosed with the blood clot and is out indefinitely per the team.
On Dec. 15 Kreider scored the 100th goal of his NHL career in a win over the Kings.
A power forward with tremendous combination of speed, strength and skill, Kreider played a top-six role with the Rangers and was a key cog on the team's top power play unit where he scored five of his 11 goals this season.
In his absence, Rick Nash and J.T. Miller took turns on the No. 1 line with center Mika Zibenejad.