BriseBois said Kucherov’s torn labrum in his hip was not tied to the groin injury the Hart Trophy-winning winger endured throughout the playoffs. BriseBois explained Kucherov did not have any hip issues at that time. The first time Kucherov reported the injury to the Lightning was Dec. 3, BriseBois said. The club had a consult over the all-star winger’s status before he began a rehabilitation program to see if that would work.

“We were fairly optimistic that would be – especially with the time he had to get ready for the start of the season – that he should be able to rehab and not need any further treatment beyond that,” BriseBois said. “Unfortunately, the treatment protocol doesn’t work. It included getting a cortisone injection and as things were not progressively positively in this case and Nikita continued to fight through the discomfort and the pain he was skating, we got another consult this week. … Everyone felt the best thing to do was to have the surgery done now. It was a similar surgery Brayden Point had not that long ago and Yanni Gourde before that, and we expect Kuch to make a full recovery like those two players did.”