Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington cited a report in Gefle Dagblad, as Swedish newspaper, that Backstrom has returned to Sweden and may be facing a rehab period of five months. The report cited by Gormley contains a quote from Backstrom where he said the injury began in November, and he has heard five months is a reasonable rehabilitation period, although recovery times do vary from person to person. If true, this would contradict the optimistic press release put out by the Capitals immediately after the May 27 surgery that suggested Backstrom would be ready to go in time for the 2015-2016 season. Three weeks removed from the procedure, it is impossible to tell when exactly Backstrom will be cleared to play at this stage in his recovery, but this situation should be monitored very closely over the summer as Backstrom is critical to the Capitals, not to mention one of the league's finer fantasy players as he 18 goals and an NHL-leading 60 assists in 82 games during 2014-2015.