Lightning Managing Health as Olympic Break Approaches

Cirelli’s injury in the first period of the game cost him a trip to Milan. While Cooper said that there was still time to evaluate, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Cirelli will be replaced by Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett on Team Canada. Hockey Canada later made the move official.

He suffered an injury after seeing just over six minutes of ice time in the first period. He didn’t return to play. Before his injury, he was on pace for another strong season offensively. In 49 games, he put up 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points. That puts him on pace for 25 goals and 59 points, which is about where he was at the end of last season.

Meanwhile, it’s still unknown, as of Tuesday afternoon, if Point will be in the Olympics. Players depart for Milan on Friday, so we’ll know soon enough. For what it’s worth, while Cirelli wasn’t present on the ice on Tuesday, Point reportedly was. He’s out there, so he’s still fighting for his chance.

Point last saw action on Jan. 12 in the 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. There were times this season when he was producing well below what was expected of him, but he had looked more like himself in the month before his injury. In his last 15 games, he tallied eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points.

If he’s healthy and able to play, Canada is going to let him keep his spot. Cooper, who also happens to be Canada’s head coach, already has to go without Cirelli. He’s going to get Point there if he can.

Hedman’s Return to Action Likely Greenlights Olympics

Victor Hedman made it back, as hoped, for action in the Stadium Series. His elbow had healed up enough to see action for the Lightning in a regular-season game. Barring a decision of better safe than sorry, which sounds highly likely, he should be bound for the Olympics.

He’s one of the top players on Team Sweden, and being without him would put them behind the eight ball to start the competition. Having him see action in the regular season helps, too. Hedman himself acknowledged that Sweden has to be ready out of the gate.

“So we’ve just got to make sure that we come together quick,” he said in an Olympic interview. “I mean, it’s going to be a short turnaround going from the [NHL] regular season over to the Olympics. So yeah — we’ve got to hit the ground running against Italy.”

Quick Olympic Break-Adjacent Thoughts

As we all know, Russia is out of the Olympics due to its ongoing war with Ukraine. The Lightning have key players who will be having an actual break during this time, including Andrei Vasilevskiy and Nikita Kucherov.

If you’re the Lightning, you probably don’t mind that your star goalie is going to get some time to rest. Don’t get me wrong, Vasilevskiy certainly would want to play in the Olympics, and the Lightning would support him going. That can be true, and they can also think that it’s good that the star goalie with an injury history gets the time off.

For all intents and purposes, he missed training camp and the preseason. They had a scare in the regular season. If he isn’t ready to go come playoff time, the team is in trouble. That Vezina Trophy case of his could also easily go out the window if his health becomes an issue.

The Lightning are one of the most represented NHL teams at the Olympics. This is without two of their biggest stars staying home. They would love to have a bigger number of players there, but perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise for later on. Olympic men’s hockey is set to get underway on Feb. 11. It will be the first time since 2014 that NHL players get to participate.