Lecavalier out for the rest of the season

Lightning Captain Vincent Lecavalier will be out the remaining five games of the season.  It appears that Lecavalier will be having surgery atter sustaining a wrist injury.  Brian Lawton said in a statement:

“Obviously it is disappointing that Vinny will not be able to finish the season, but we feel that it is in both his and the team’s best interest to have the wrist operated on now....Vinny has been battling this injury all season and I really can’t say enough about his ability to play through the pain and discomfor

What this means in the short term is obvious - a team without it's captain to close the season.  In the longer-term, Lecavalier having the surgery now can lead to a number of dubious conclusions drawn to go along with taking this at it's word and simply addressing a lingering injury now and not after the season.  Lecavalier had reportedly sat out practice yesterday (end of the article) with other walking wounded. So I don't take the timing as anything besides a hurting player not riskign further damage during a season gone bad.