Another New Jersey Devils Star Elects To Have Surgery

The New Jersey Devils have more injuries than we could count by the end of the season. Even the Vegas Golden Knights, who famously dealt with injures all season, had more players play at least 70 games this year. The Devils did have five players play all 82 games, but they only had 10 play at least 70. We've already heard about some of the players whose seasons ended early due to injury. Dougie Hamilton went out on December 1st and never came back after a torn pectoral. Jack Hughes decided to finish his season near the end after it was clear the Devils were missing the playoffs. He had a sorely needed shoulder surgery.

Last week, we learned that Timo Meier was dealing with injuries to both his MCLs in his knees and an oblique injury. He revealed this at the end-of-the-season exit interviews. On Tuesday, we learned there was even more to the story.

So, for those keeping score at home, that's four injuries that Meier was dealing with. That didn't stop him from turning on the jets at the end of the year. After an incredibly slow start, Meier still finished the season with the team lead in goals. He had 13 goals in March alone, doing his best to carry the Devils as far as they could.

The Devils desperately needed to get healthy, and it just wasn't happening during the season. We also just learned that Jesper Bratt wasn't medically cleared to represent Sweden at the World Championships. Every hockey player is suffering some sort of ailment at the end of the season. However, the Devils took it to the extreme.

Jonas Siegenthaler, John Marino, Ondrej Palat, and others puttered to the end of the season as they did their best to get the Devils to compete. Unfortunately, it appeared the Devils just ran out of steam, and the injuries were a main reason. Now, we can only imagine what next year will look like with Timo Meier playing at 100%.