Luke Gazdic’s breakthrough campaign is ending on a sour note.
Gazdic, who made his NHL debut with Edmonton this season and went on to appear in 67 games, will be shut down for the remainder of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery, the club announced on Monday. The procedure and recovery will sideline Gazdic for six months, which could linger over to next year’s training camp and, quite possibly, the start of the regular season.
Gazdic, 24, has two goals and four points this year with a team-high 127 penalty minutes. He’s fought 15 times and showed no fear when it came to picking opponents, taking on the likes of Brian McGrattan, Milan Lucic and Kevin Westgarth -- the latter being on the wrong end of Gazdic’s most memorable win of the year:
Gazdic is on a one-year, $635,000 deal with the Oilers that expires this July. It’ll be interesting to see if he showed enough to earn a new deal for next year, or if this shoulder ailment will come into effect.
