Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast expected to miss entire 2024-25 season
Carolina Hurricanes right wing Jesper Fast is expected to miss the entire 2024-25 season after undergoing neck surgery, Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky announced Thursday.
Fast, 32, collected six goals and 19 points in 73 games with the Hurricanes during the 2023-24 regular season, but he suffered a neck injury in the team’s season finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets and subsequently missed all 11 of their playoff games.
The Hurricanes announced that Fast underwent surgery to address the injury on August 6 and is not expected to return for the 2024-25 season, which is also the final year of his current contract with the club.
Jesper Fast has undergone neck surgery, and is not expected to play in the upcoming season.
Get well soon, Quickie ❤️
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The Hurricanes first acquired Fast in the 2020 offseason, signing the Nassjo, Sweden product to a three-year, $2 million AAV contract on October 20 of that year. They subsequently re-signed the 6’1″, 191-pound forward to a two-year, $2.4 million AAV deal on July 1, 2023.
The New York Rangers originally selected Fast in the sixth round (No. 157 overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft. After spending parts of four seasons with SHL club HV71 (and leading Team Sweden in scoring at the 2011 World Juniors), Fast made his NHL debut with the Rangers in 2013-14 and appeared in three playoff games during their run to the Stanley Cup Final that spring.
Fast ultimately spent parts of six seasons on Broadway, establishing himself as a reliable and, yes, fast third-line forward for a contending Rangers team. But with the Blueshirts heading into a retool, Fast left New York in 2020 to join his former teammate Brady Skjei in Carolina.
After helping the Hurricanes reach the second round in each of his first two seasons with the team, Fast collected six goals and nine points in 15 playoff contests in 2023 as the Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference Final, where they fell to the Stanley Cup Final-bound Florida Panthers in a sweep.
Through 703 career games over parts of 10 NHL seasons with the Rangers and Hurricanes, Fast has collected 91 goals and 248 points. He’s added 14 goals and 27 points in 80 career playoff contests.