REPORT: Capitals' star forward career likely to be over

The Washington Capitals received a very bad news yesterday. Nicklas Backstrom, who struggled with injuries this season, underwent left hip resurfacing surgery in Belgium. And his recovery process is going to be extremely long.

Only two other players underwent a similar procedure (Ryan Kesler and Ed Jovanovski) and both retired pretty soon after. Jovanovski played 37 games before retiring. In the case of Kesler, he never played again.

If this is the end for Backstrom, he will be considered as one of the best players ever to have put a Capitals jersey. He played 1058 games in Washington, registering 1011 points.