Teemu Selanne reportedly had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in his native Finland on Wednesday, an issue that could delay his decision on whether he’ll return to the Anaheim Ducks for an 18th NHL season.
Selanne's agent, Don Baizley, confirmed to the Orange County Register on Thursday that the winger had the procedure done after it was first reported by the website MTV3.fi. The Register said Baizley did not offer any specifics on what the surgery was supposed to repair. Selanne had reconstructive knee surgery during the 2004-05 work stoppage.
Ducks GM Bob Murray intimated that the procedure might have been more exploratory in nature but told the paper that "until we know more, we shouldn’t speculate."
"I think Teemu wants to play and I think he’s trying to make sure that before he decides to play that everything’s going to be OK," Murray said. "I think he’s taking all the steps to make sure everything is OK. He has every right to do that, by the way."
Selanne becomes an unrestricted free agent on Friday, but the Ducks’ all-time leading scorer has mostly worked on one-year contracts and has indicated on multiple occasions that if he plays in 2011-12, he'll do so with the Ducks.
Selanne, who turns 41 on Sunday, has 637 goals and 703 assists in his NHL career. He holds franchise records for goals (410), assists (461) and points (871). Selanne scored 31 goals and finished with 80 points in 2010-11, joining Gordie Howe and Johnny Bucyk as the only players to average a point a game in a full season after turning 40.
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