Henrik Lundqvist will need another Heart Surgery
After being bought out by the New York Rangers, Henrik Lundqvist signed with the Capitals for the 2020-21 season, intending to follow in Ray Bourque's footsteps. Instead, an undiagnosed heart issue ended Lundqvist's season early.
The goalie went to extremes to return to the NHL. Lundqvist chose a cow tissue aortic valve over a mechanical one, according to GP's Johan Rylander and the Rangers' blog Forever Blueshirts, to avoid taking blood thinners. But Hank will need another heart operation in the future if he wants to return to the Capitals.
In the future, Lundqvist said GP via Forever Blueshirts. «We'll see how big it is. We'll see if the chest needs to be reopened or not.»
An infection in Lundqvist's chest stopped his comeback effort three days before the conversation.
«I got pericarditis three days before I left for Washington,» Lundqvist said. Then something happened that had nothing to do with the procedure, and I was very near to returning.
«I acquired an illness that attacked and sat around my heart. «It hurt,» Lundqvist remarked. «I was overwhelmed for five days, unwell and with chest problems. This was a reminder of my spring setbacks. I didn't want to go back.»
I might be out of the woods with medication, but it could be another whole year before I am 100%,» Lundqvist told the New York Post.
The pain and the prognosis led Lundqvist to retire on Friday.
«I have to let that heal,» Lundqvist remarked to the reporters in Sweden during his farewell press conference. «I'm too nervous to go out on the ice full force. It's a mix of drugs and practise. That's why I chose this path.»
