Robin Lehner to have two surgeries before returning to play

The news for Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner is worse than it first appeared. It was announced earlier by the team that Lehner would miss all of 2022-23 due to hip surgery. Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon clarified Thursday that Lehner has already undergone surgery on one hip. He'll have a procedure done on the other soon.

It was clear something was up near the end of last season when Vegas was fighting to try to get into a wild card playoff spot, but Lehner, the team's number one goaltender, wasn't playing. Both he and the Golden Knights said very little about what was going on until the hip surgery announcement. Vegas has several other goaltenders in its system, but none of them are clear number ones, and most have little to no experience. Unless a move is made before September, the Knights will likely start training camp hoping a tandem of Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson can be steady enough to keep them afloat, at least until a move is made. Brossiot, 29, has played 106 games in the NHL. The most he's played in one season is 24. Thompson has promise, but the 25-year-old has just 20 games' worth of experience in the league.

As for Lehner and Vegas, the relationship between the two appears somewhat strained at times. Marc-Andre Fleury was literally given away to the Chicago Blackhawks before the start of last season, meaning Vegas saw Lehner as their clear number one. Hindsight is always 20/20, but McCrimmon must still be kicking himself for making that deal, and probably will be for a while. There were reports that Lehner wanted to shut down his season long before he actually did in 2021-22, but waited at the request of the team.

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