Victor Hedman won't join teammates on flight to Toronto

As teams prepare the fly to their respective hub cities Sunday for the NHL's Return to Play program, at least one big name will not be joining his teammates right away. Victor Hedman, 2018's Norris Trophy winner, will remain in Tampa Bay for now.

According to Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, the team has confirmed that Hedman will not join his teammates on the flight to Toronto for "personal reasons." The Lightning are stressing that this is not an injury and Hedman himself requested the delay. He's expected to head to Toronto in "a few days."

The only Tampa Bay player on the injured list at the moment is captain Steven Stamkos. He is, however, expected to be ready for for the team's first game on August 3rd. As per the NHL's new rules regarding injuries, no information on specifics has been released.

As one of the top teams in the East, the Lightning will not have to take part in the play-in round and instead will be facing off against other top teams for seeding, which will matter when there are 16 teams left. Despite playing just 66 games this season, Hedman had already topped last season's point total with 55. He'll need to be on top of his game as the Lightning look to erase the memory of last year's playoffs, when the team was eliminated in the first round by Columbus despite winning the President's Trophy as the club with the most points at the end of the regular season.

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