Dallas Stars fans knew to expect at least two hip surgeries to high-end players this offseason as the problems of Jamie Benn and Ales Hemsky were well-publicized on locker clean out day a few weeks ago.
Never one to do anything halfway, Benn might even need surgery on both of his hips.
The pair was scheduled to see doctors today about their respective surgeries, and Mike Heika checked in with general manager Jim Nill this morning to see how those examinations had gone. There’s no word yet on either of the forwards, but there was this bit of surprising news:
However, he did say that Trevor Daley had hip labrum surgery on Thursday and his recovery is 3-4 months. Should be ready for training camp.
— Mike Heika (@MikeHeika) April 27, 2015
That’s… a lot of hip surgeries for one team in about 13 months – five now when you count John Klingberg from last April and Valeri Nichushkin from November, though it should be noted Klingberg didn’t enter the Stars true developmental system until last spring. Is it just a run of bad luck or indicative of something the Stars should work on in terms of stride development to protect the joint? Who knows at this point, but it certainly is a bad little run.
Daley’s biggest injury concern this season was an MCL sprain, which he suffered relatively late on the year on a hit from Matt Martin, who was given a one-game suspension for his efforts. There’s no indication yet whether the hip injury came about as an after-effect of the knee injury or was something Daley battled all season, along the lines of Benn and Hemsky.
While Daley put up career-best numbers offensively, the possession statistics showed he struggled significantly in his own end, particularly in the first few months of the season when he was being used in extremely tough minutes. He (and the team) evened out from December onward, but the Stars had already dug themselves far too deep of a hole.
A 3-4 month recovery puts Daley ready for full-speed work at the end of July or August.