Iron Fist: Tavares recovering from hand surgery, per report

After the Islanders game against Nashville on March 27th, I was lucky enough to meet John Tavares and get his autograph. His right hand looked fine to me, a Juliard-trained dermatologist who is also a mutant with x-ray vision and short-range telepathy.

Turns out Tavares’ hand wasn’t fine, and he has since had surgery on it, per a report today from Newsday’s Arthur Staple. So if you see Tavares around town with a cast on, now you know why.

The captain had the surgery a week after the Islanders’ season ended to fix an issue that lingered through much of the season. His hand is still in a cast, which is scheduled to be removed next week, giving him ample time to go through his rigorous offseason training without missing any time.

It’s good that Tavares will be able to train as normal (“normal” for him, not regular humans) this summer, but the “lingered throughout the season” part is really disconcerting. In 77 games this season, Tavares finished with 28 goals and 38 assists for 66 points, his lowest total since his Olympics injury-shortened 2013-14 season. Those numbers aren’t bad by any means, but it’s fair to wonder how much that hand bugged him during the season.

Guess it wasn’t enough to stop him from doing this late in the season, though. But still.

The most important thing Tavares’ right hand should be doing in the next few weeks is signing a contract extension to stay with the Islanders forever. Staple naturally segues from the injury into the negotiations, which could include the team offering its captain an eight-year, $10 million a year deal. Of course, you would already know that if you’ve been keeping up with our Tavares Contract Encyclopedia like I know you all have been.

Get better soon, John. Sorry you’re gonna be off the links for a while. Take in a movie instead. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was great.