Sweeney: Hampus Lindholm ‘unlikely’ to return this season, ‘no timeline’ for McAvoy
Lindholm has not played since Nov. 12, missing multiple months after taking a puck off his knee.
Don Sweeney had some bad news to offer up in regards to the Bruins’ battered blue line.
Speaking to reporters at Warrior Ice Arena on Sunday, Sweeney announced that Hampus Lindholm is “unlikely” to return for the remainder of the 2024-25 season, while adding that there is no “no timeline” in place for Charlie McAvoy as he recovers from both an infection and a “significant” AC joint injury.
Lindholm has not played since Nov. 12, with the 31-year-old defenseman sidelined for months after taking a puck off of his knee during an eventual road win over the St. Louis Blues.
In the weeks leading up to the 4 Nations Face-Off break, Lindholm was a participant in Bruins’ practices, signaling his potential return for the final stretch of regular-season play.
On Feb. 7, Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco noted that the team was “hopeful that when we get back, [Lindholm’s] ready.” But Lindholm was not a participant in any team practices this past week, with Sweeney and the Bruins eventually making the call not to push him back into game action.
“As everybody knows, he had a significant knee injury — fractured his patella, had surgery,” Sweeney said of Lindholm’s status. “There was no real definitive timeline. I think we were pretty open about that, and really didn’t want to peg a timeline on it, because of the complexity of the injury. He’s going to have a follow-up next week to remove a little bit of the hardware, because it created some irritation as he was going through the rehab.
“Again, the healing process has gone long and gone well. He’ll have no setbacks moving forward. That being said, it’s going to take a little more time for him to heal naturally, and we just don’t want to put a timeline on when he’ll be back to 100%. So I think it’s more constructive to allow him to not continue to push the way he had been pushing.”
Lindholm’s loss stands as a devastating setback for a Bruins team already outside of the playoff picture.
The case can be made that Lindholm was Boston’s most impactful skater through the first six weeks of the regular season — logging heavy minutes in all situations, elevating a second D pair alongside Brandon Carlo, and being tasked with trying to spark Boston’s lackluster power play right before his injury.
As for McAvoy, Sweeney was not as definitive about McAvoy’s uncertain status for the remainder of this season. The 27-year-old blueliner has since been released from Mass. General Hospital after being admitted on Monday evening.
But with seven weeks remaining in the regular season and Boston’s playoff hopes dwindling, it remains to be seen if the Bruins want to push their top defenseman back into game action this spring.
“Very happy to report that Charlie’s doing better. Out of the hospital … No timeline as regards to his surgery and his shoulder,” Sweeney said. “And again, doing much, much better. And we’re very grateful and appreciative to [team physician] Dr. [Peter] Asnis and the medical staff that took care of Charlie.”
Sweeney added that they don’t believe any follow-up procedure will be necessary to treat McAvoy’s shoulder injury, which he suffered while playing for Team USA during round-robin play against Finland.
Despite suffering that injury, McAvoy played during last weekend’s game against Canada. During his ongoing treatment with Team USA, McAvoy suffered an infection that eventually required hospitalization, with Asnis and his team eventually having to perform an “irrigation and debridement procedure” to treat the infection — coupled with IV antibiotics.
A report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman last week stated that the Bruins were “extremely unhappy” with the treatment that McAvoy received from Team USA during the tournament — be it playing through that shoulder injury or suffering a severe infection from what could have been a shot of painkillers or other medication.
But Sweeney opted to not further dive into criticism toward the Team USA medical team on Sunday.
“Again, the care that Charlie received here is what’s most important from the standpoint of where his health is at now, and that’s all that really matters,” Sweeney said. “Dr. Asnis’ team, as I stated, did a great job.”
With both McAvoy and Lindholm sidelined, the Bruins will move forward with a six-man D corps featuring Carlo, Nikita Zadorov, Mason Lohrei, Andrew Peeke, Parker Wotherspoon, and Michael Callahan.
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