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(Reuters) - Washington
Capitals goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will miss the 2021 NHL
season due to a heart condition, he said on Thursday.
The 38-year-old Swede played 15 seasons with the New York
Rangers before signing a one-year contract with the Capitals
during the off season.
"It breaks my heart (literally) to share this news: I will not
be joining the Capitals this upcoming season," he wrote on
Twitter.
"After many weeks of tests and conversations with specialists
around the country, it's been determined that a heart condition
will prevent me from taking the ice. Together, we have decided
that the risk of playing before remedying my condition is too
high. So I will spend the coming months figuring out the best
course of action.
"For the past two months I've been so inspired by the
opportunity to play in DC and committed to my game, spending
every day at the rink to prepare for the upcoming season. The
news was very difficult to process but after the last test
result earlier this week we knew there was only one way to go
from here."
Lundqvist thanked the Capitals organization for their support
and said he will take a few weeks to be with his family and then
"be back to share next steps".
Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy for the NHL's best goalie in
2011-12.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Ed Osmond)
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