Tyler Myers to miss 6-8 more weeks after surgery

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tyler Myers will miss the next six-to-eight weeks after Monday surgery to fix a lower-body injury, coach Paul Maurice said.

According to Maurice, the operation doesn’t have to do with injuries to Myers’ hip and knee that were repaired near the end of last season and in the offseason. Those required a 16-20 week recovery period. The 27-year-old Myers has been out since Nov. 11 because of this current issue and has played just 11 games this season. He has notched five points while averaging 22:12 of ice-time per-game. Last season, Myers averaged 22:37 and had 27 points in 73 games.

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“Just a previous existing lower-body injury. The hip is fine. When his hip got fixed, his range of motion got better. It may have led to part of this. But his hip and knee that he got fixed have been fine,” Maurice said according to the Winnipeg Sun. “(Myers) had an injury that’s had a long rehab on and for 90 percent of the long, it’s long but they eventually get past that threshold. He could never get past that threshold. You delay (surgery) as long as you possibly can because you hope you don’t have to. The big bulk of the evidence says you won’t have to, but there’s a section of athletes that need to have surgery. He had it yesterday.

“It’s a six-to-eight week window on this recovery, that we hope cleans everything up. The expectation is that by the time he hits … the normal recovery, he’s a full player and we won’t have to take another two weeks after that and condition him back into shape. Part of his rehab means that if he gets to that window and all goes well, he’ll be back in our lineup.”

Not having Myers and his steady stay-at-home style have hurt the Jets, a team that has allowed 3.11 goals per-game on the season. Though the sample size was small, Myers held a plus-7.17 5-on-5 adjusted CF% Rel, meaning the team possessed the puck more when he was on the ice than when he wasn’t. Also, Maurice pointed out that without Myers, other defensemen have been taxed with more ice-time.

“From the time he’s been here, he’s had a real big impact on our game. (Myers’ injury) has pushed (Dustin) Byfuglien’s minutes to a point where I don’t think it’s helped him. One of the positives is that (Jacob) Trouba has picked up a lot of minutes maybe in that role. But we’ve missed (Myers) greatly,” Maurice said.

The Jets have 54 points, three back of the St. Louis Blues for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The Blues have two games in hand on Winnipeg.

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The 6-foot-8 Myers hasn’t been the most durable of players during his career. Since 2009-10, his first full season in the NHL, Myers has played 80-or-more games twice. Myers has also missed prolonged periods of time with a broken leg and a broken wrist amongst other injuries.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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