ARLINGTON, Va. — Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said it’s unlikely Nicklas Backstrom plays again this season after the Swedish center stepped away from the team last week, citing the ongoing issues with his surgically repaired left hip.

MacLellan stopped short of ruling Backstrom out for the remainder of the season or saying the franchise cornerstone had played his final NHL game. The soon-to-be 36-year-old is expected to go on long-term injured reserve in the near future.

“It’s emotional for everybody. He’s been such a big part of the organization,” MacLellan said Monday. “It’s a tough situation, and eventually everybody’s got to move on.”

Backstrom is the Capitals’ second-longest-tenured player behind captain Alex Ovechkin, and his 762 career assists in the regular season are the most in franchise history. After arthroscopic surgery on the hip in 2015, he had the more invasive operation in the summer of 2022 and insisted at the start of training camp he was fully healthy and ready to play.

He had just one point in eight games this season, was taken off the top power-play unit and had his ice time drastically reduced. It looked in practice like he was a candidate to be a healthy scratch before the decision was made to take a leave of absence.

HURRICANES: Goaltender Frederik Andersen is out indefinitely after medical tests found a blood clotting issue.

GM Don Waddell issued an update on Andersen’s status, saying there’s no timetable for the 34-year-old’s return. Waddell said the team does expect Andersen to make a full recovery.

BLACKHAWKS: Attorneys for a former player suing the Chicago Blackhawks for allegedly ignoring his complaints that a team employee sexually abused him during the 2009-10 Stanley Cup championship season said their client was inspired to come forward by another player on that team who sued the organization — Kyle Beach.

“Certainly, having somebody like Kyle Beach, who was a known player, someone who was very well known, to come forward — that’s what gave him the courage,” attorney Antonio Romanucci said of his client, identified in court documents as John Doe. “People say, ‘Oh, this is a money grab’ — it’s not. I mean, ultimately, there will be hopefully some financial compensation for him. But there is no doubt that in these situations, people who have been abused sexually take time for them to come forward. And when they see that other people come forward, that gives them a path to follow.”

The lawsuit filed last week in Cook County Circuit Court accuses the team of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress among other allegations. It seeks more than $300,000.

The plaintiff was a member of the “Black Aces” squad, which was made up of minor-league players who traveled with the NHL team during the playoffs to fill in in case of injuries. One of those players was Beach, who reached a settlement with the Blackhawks in December 2021 after alleging he was sexually assaulted by then-video coach Brad Aldrich.

The new lawsuit raises similar allegations against Aldrich and said the Blackhawks showed “utter indifference and/or conscious disregard for the safety of its employees, including John Doe.” The plaintiff, who currently plays overseas, was 19 to 20 years old when the alleged abuse occurred and was out of the organization within a year, Friedl said.

The Blackhawks issued a statement saying the organization takes allegations of workplace misconduct seriously and noted that two years ago the organization initiated an independent investigation into the events of 2010.

MONDAY’S GAMES

PANTHERS 5, BLUE JACKETS 4: Nick Cousins pulled Florida into a tie in the final minute of regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scored 1:26 into overtime and Florida beat visiting Columbus.

MAPLE LEAFS 6, LIGHTNING 5: Calle Jarnkrok scored his second goal of the game 46 seconds into overtime to give Toronto a win at home.

Auston Matthews added two goals and an assist, Mitch Marner had a goal and three assists and Matthew Knies had a goal and two assists for Toronto.