Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to be ready for the team’s season opener, head coach Jon Cooper told reporters on Thursday.
Vasilveskiy, 31, has been dealing with an undisclosed injury in camp and has not taken the ice for practice since Sept. 19. He has also been ruled out for both of Tampa Bay’s preseason games over the weekend.
“Basically he’s just going through some treatments and stuff,” Cooper said of his net minder last week. “It’s player management so he’ll be out probably a few days, latest hopefully a week and, then, he’ll be back in there,”
TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston shared the latest on Tampa Bay’s goalie on Insider Trading on Tuesday.
“We don’t know a whole lot and that’s part of why I think this story has a little bit of legs in Tampa and that’s because Andrei Vasilevskiy, as you mentioned, missed a scrimmage, missed four straight days now at practice.
“There’s not a whole lot of clarity as to what’s going on. Jon Cooper did tell reporters in Tampa that he is dealing with a player management issue, that he’s receiving some treatment, nothing beyond that.”
A native of Tyumen, Russia, Vasilvskiy posted a 38-20-5 record for the Lightning last year to go along with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
He finished second on Vezina Trophy voting in 2024-25 behind Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who took home the award for the second consecutive season.
The Lightning open the new season at home with an Atlantic Division matchup against the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 9.