{"id":802959,"date":"2026-08-05T01:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/802959\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T01:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T01:06:11","slug":"nicklas-backstrom-remains-on-medical-leave-absent-as-brynas-begins-on-ice-training-for-2026-27-shl-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/802959\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicklas Backstrom remains on medical leave, absent as Bryn\u00e4s begins on-ice training for 2026-27 SHL season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nicklas Backstrom<\/a> is back in a familiar and frustrating spot.<\/p>\n

The legendary Washington Capitals<\/a> center was absent when Bryn\u00e4s IF reconvened for the start of the 2026\u201327 SHL season on Thursday, July 30, and held its first on-ice practice on Monday, August 3, in the A-Hall at Monitor ERP Arena.<\/p>\n

Gefle Dagblad reported<\/a> that while the 38-year-old Backstrom is back in G\u00e4vle, Sweden, he remains on medical leave while rehabilitating an undisclosed injury. Backstrom\u2019s NHL career ended due to a long-term hip ailment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Backstrom remains under contract for 2026\u201327 because neither he nor Bryn\u00e4s exercised the option to terminate the final season of his two-year deal over the offseason. However, Bryn\u00e4s stated officially in May that he had injury problems that required continued rehabilitation<\/a> and there was no known end date to his recovery. The club constructed its roster with the possibility that the 2018 Stanley Cup champion might not be available. General manager Johan Alc\u00e9n described any contribution from Backstrom next season as \u201ca bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nicklas<\/p>\n

\"RMNB\"<\/p>\n

\u201cNicklas has been struggling with injury problems during the spring that require continued rehabilitation with an unknown end date, which makes his status uncertain for the upcoming season,\u201d the team\u2019s press release reads<\/a> per a translation from Google Translate. \u201cBryn\u00e4s IF will therefore give Nicklas the time required and at the same time build the squad based on the possibility that he may not play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bryn\u00e4s also added at the time that Backstrom was working with a SAND specialist clinic in Stockholm<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Backstrom\u2019s return to the team he played for in his youth last season, he appeared in 45 of 52 regular season games, missing just seven contests. On October 4, 2025, Backstrom scored his first professional goal since April 2023 with the Capitals<\/a> \u2014 a span of nearly two years. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Backstrom finished the regular season with 30 points (3g, 27a), tying him for fourth-most on the team. He played in every playoff game as Bryn\u00e4s was eliminated by V\u00e4xj\u00f6 in five games of the first round. The Super Swede recorded two assists, including one in the elimination game, but did not score a playoff goal. <\/p>\n

Backstrom has been rehabbing ever since and there is currently no timetable for his return to team activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, it\u2019s been really fun, even if you\u2019re disappointed right now,\u201d Backstrom said after Bryn\u00e4s was eliminated from the postseason<\/a>, unsure if his career would continue. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great experience to come back and play ice hockey. People had higher expectations, maybe, but I\u2019ve been sitting on the sidelines for two years, and I\u2019m just incredibly happy to be doing what I love.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that I have received so much love and emotion at home has been appreciated and nothing I expected. I will live with that for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Backstrom out, Bryn\u00e4s (ironically) may turn to talented former Capitals prospect Milton G\u00e4strin, who was traded to the St. Louis Blues as part of the Connor McMichael deal<\/a>. Weeks later, the Blues loaned the 19-year-old center to Bryn\u00e4s for the 2026-27 campaign. G\u00e4strin is coming off an age-18 season where he recorded 24 points (10g, 14a) in 39 HockeyAllsvenskan games with MoDo Hockey. He also made his AHL debut for the Hershey Bears in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bryn\u00e4s\u2019 first public game action will be the Svarta mot Vita intrasquad event on Saturday, August 8, at Monitor ERP Arena in G\u00e4vle. Former Capitals Christian Djoos, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, and Johan Larsson<\/a> remain on the roster this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nicklas Backstrom is back in a familiar and frustrating spot. The legendary Washington Capitals center was absent when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802960,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-802959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802959"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802959\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}