Many hockey fans are worried about Brayden Point’s injury, which received a concerning update with the 2026 Winter Olympic Games arriving in just a month. The Tampa Bay Lightning forward suffered an awkward injury when Flyers defenseman Cam York fell onto his right leg during a power play in the second period on Monday, January 12.
Point needed assistance getting off the ice before being examined by the team’s medical staff.
Point could miss Winter Olympics with week-to-week injury
While the exact nature of Point’s injury remains undisclosed, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper — who is also set to coach Team Canada at the 2026 Olympic Games in Milano Cortina — revealed that the forward will be sidelined on a “week-to-week” basis.
“This is definitely more than day to day, probably classified as week to week right now,” Cooper said on Tuesday. “Hopefully, we averted what could have been really, really bad, but he’s going to be out for the time being now.”
Cooper is hopeful that Point can recover over the next few weeks and be healthy enough to compete at the Olympics. The 29-year-old Calgary native was officially named to Team Canada in late December.
While the coach expressed relief that Point avoided the worst-case scenario and that his season is not over, some fans remain concerned that the injury could be more serious than it appears.
Dr. Harjas Grewal, an NHL injury expert, shared on X (formerly Twitter) that the injury could potentially be an MCL issue. This would align with the week-to-week recovery timeline mentioned by Cooper. The medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury can range from a mild sprain to a complete tear.
Another Olympic hopeful currently dealing with injury concerns is gold medal snowboarder Chloe Kim.
Meanwhile, Snoop Dogg has been named an honorary coach for Team USA at the upcoming Olympic Games.