VGK’s Robin Lehner Set to Undergo Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

The 2021-22 season has been a very strange one for many players on the Vegas Golden Knights roster, none more so than goaltender Robin Lehner, who is now officially set to undergo shoulder surgery.

The 30-year-old was put into a difficult situation from the get go, as management chose to go with him over hometown favorite Marc-Andre Fleury, who they shipped off to the Chicago Blackhawks this summer. As a result, many in the Golden Knights fanbase have been sour when it comes towards Lehner, believing he is the reason Fleury is no longer around.

Had Lehner come in and had himself a great 2021-22 season, perhaps many would have changed their tune about their feelings towards him. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. He struggled early on this season, and was then banged up with multiple injuries, two of which were reported at the time to be season ending. However, he managed to come back from both, though reports even as early as this past week suggested he was nowhere near 100 percent.

The strangest situation of all occurred this past week, when it was announced by Emily Kaplan of ESPN that Lehner would miss the remainder of the season. Just a day after that announcement, head coach Pete DeBoer denied the notion, and just a few days later he was backing up for Logan Thompson in a game against the San Jose Sharks. Now, however, his season is in fact done for good.

Back on Feb. 8, Lehner suffered a shoulder injury which forced him to miss some time. Ultimately, he did everything he could do to hold off on season-ending surgery. However, this past Thursday he told the team he would be getting surgery, a decision which the Golden Knights doctor agreed with. Management then asked if he would delay a single day in order to back up in that game against the Sharks due to cap implications, to which Lehner obliged.

This entire situation has been very bizarre, but with news of the surgery it finally puts an end to what was a very strange season for Lehner. There will certainly be questions about what management may choose to do with him this summer, though if they do keep him there is plenty of reason to believe he can bounce back. Prior to his struggles this season, he had a track record of being a well above average starting goalie. Perhaps taking the summer to get healthy will be all he needs to once again prove to the hockey world just how good he is capable of being.