SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Kraken will be without forward Andre Burakovsky for the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs after he underwent surgery to address a lower-body injury.
The Kraken announced Burakovsky's status after a 3-1 loss to Vegas in their regular-season finale Thursday night.
Burakovsky has not played since Feb. 7 against the New York Islanders when he was injured on his first shift in Seattle's first game after the All-Star break.
Burakovsky was expected to return in March, but experienced a pair of setbacks in his recovery. The latest setback came recently after he was on the ice for practice in a red no-contact jersey.
At the time of his injury, Burakovsky was Seattle's leading scorer. He had 13 goals and 26 assists in 49 games prior to his injury.
Burakovsky signed a five-year, $27.5 million deal with the Kraken last offseason after helping Colorado to a championship.
Seattle will open the playoffs next week against either Dallas or Colorado, depending on the outcome Friday's game between the Avalanche and Predators in Nashville.
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.