WASHINGTON — Connor Brown is expected to be out the rest of the regular season after the Washington Capitals forward had surgery to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
The 28-year-old’s projected recovery is 6-8 months. He was injured on a hit from a defenseman Noah Juulsen during the third period in a 6-4 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 17.
“I talked to him last week, days before we left for the road trip,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said. “Obviously [he is] disappointed, I think, as anyone would be. You’re expected to come here and have a big year and we were excited to have him, so I think that was a little bit of disappointment. But now the work begins with rehab.”
Brown has no points in four games this season. He was acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators on July 13 for a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to help fill in for forwards. Tom Wilsonwho is expected to be out until at least December after having surgery on May 24 to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.
Washington is also missing forwards Nicklas Backstrom (resurfacing surgery on left hip), TJ Oshie (lower body) and Carl Hagelin (arthroscopic surgery on left hip), each of whom is out indefinitely. Defenseman John Carlson (lower body) is day to day.
The Capitals (5-4-2) lost 3-2 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights at home Tuesday.
A sixth-round pick (No. 156) in the 2012 NHL Draft, Brown has 216 points (90 goals, 126 assists) in 448 regular-season games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Senators and Capitals. He has five points (one goal, four assists) in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Brown is in the final season of a three-year, $10.8 million contract ($3.6 million average annual value) he signed with Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2020. He can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
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