New Jersey Devils: Is this the end for Patrik Elias?

The New Jersey Devils have been without Patrik Elias since early in January, but will the veteran get on the ice before April 9^th?

Elias hasn’t ruled out playing next season, as he has frequently stated his desire to keep playing, but his body is certainly holding him back

“I kind of have a feeling that hopefully this is not it. If it is, I’m going to go out and enjoy it and see what the summer holds for me.”

Elias has been out since January 12^th, but his knee is still giving him some issues after what was supposed to be a quick fix.

“I don’t know. They say it might take a little more time, but who knows?” Elias said to Rich Chere of NJ.com. “I can’t tell you right now. I hope it goes away. If it doesn’t, I might explore other things. Whatever the suggestions might be, I’d have to sit down and just be honest with myself. Is it worth it?

“You also have to look at life afterwards and be able to be active,” he said to Chere. “I always was active as a kid and I loved to play all the sports. I want to be able to do that. I want to be able to play tennis and ride a mountain bike. I don’t want to go through life the next 10 years until I need a knee replacement and just go through the pain.

“Right now I’m happy the way I feel, honestly.”

Elias did reveal that there was another surgery recommended to him that would have ended his season.

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“There were suggestions to do a little bit more. It would do more damage to the knee, so it would take longer. That’s something I didn’t want to do at the beginning of the season,” Elias revealed to Chere. “So we took a different approach.

“After those games, different issues started coming up and acting up that didn’t bother me before. We went for the least damaging kind of surgery. Fixing it up and cleaning it up. I was getting back pretty quickly, but you have little setbacks. Other body parts start acting up.”

No decision is imminent about his future, but Elias doesn’t want to have any regrets.

“I would love to. If I will have any regrets it will probably be the injury because it wouldn’t allow me to play with this group of guys and under the coaching staff we have and the style of hockey we play,” he said to Chere. “I love watching these guys. All of our fans and (media) do, too, and are surprised by the way the team has been playing. That’s the only regret I have, that I couldn’t be part of it for the whole year.”

Elias will have just over one week to make his return this season, or we may have to wait until the summer to find out what his plans are for the future.

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The New Jersey Devils have been without Patrik Elias since early in January, but will the veteran get on the ice before April 9th?

More from Empire Writes Back

The New Jersey Devils have been without Patrik Elias since early in January, but will the veteran get on the ice before April 9^th?