Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros will have surgery to remove a small disc fragment in his lower back and will be out six to eight weeks, the team announced via Twitter on Monday.
Meszaros hasnt played since the team's 3-2 win over the New York Islanders on March 1, in which he had a goal and two assists in 20:19 on ice.
The timetable for his return means the Flyers would have to make a deep playoff run, to at least late in the second round if not the Eastern Conference finals, in order to see Meszaros return to their lineup this season.
It's unclear how long the 26-year-old blueliner has been plagued by the disc issue. His ice time hasn't fluctuated much this season, hovering around his average of 20:40 for most of the year. He was spotted limping around the Flyers' locker room at Skate Zone in recent weeks, but at no point attributed the pain to a back problem.
It is interesting that the team waited so long to schedule the surgery, which will be performed Wednesday by Dr. Alex Vaccaro at Thomas Jefferson University. Meszaros has missed the Flyers' last nine games, and has been considered "out indefinitely" the entire time.
In 62 games this season, Meszaros has seven goals and 18 assists.
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E-mail Sarah Baicker at sbaicker@comcastsportsnet.com