The Devils said the 32-year-old goaltender will need about five months to recover. He missed 16 regular-season games with a groin/hip injury sustained in a 3-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Jan. 23, and went 0-10-2 with a 4.04 goals-against average and .863 save percentage in 12 games prior to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Schneider replaced Keith Kinkaid for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round and made 34 saves in a 5-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. New Jersey lost the best-of-7 series in five games.
"I think it was a smart idea to get the surgery done now and get him feeling good and back to normal," Devils captain Andy Greene said. "I know he was battling with it for a lot of the season and knew this could be an option once the season was over, but it's tough to sit there and think about training camp and how it's going to affect us. Obviously you saw down the stretch how Keith came in there, so with another great summer of working out and training and getting ready, hopefully that's something that can carry us into training camp."
Left wing Taylor Hall is expected to be ready for the start of camp after he had surgery April 30 to repair torn ligaments in his left hand. The 26-year-old was injured in late December. He had 18 goals and 20 assists during a 26-game point streak from Jan. 2-March 6 (he missed three games from Jan. 22-25 with a thumb injury), and went on a 19-game point streak (13 goals, 13 assists) to set a Devils record after returning from the injury. He had a nine-game run (eight goals, nine assists) from March 18-April 3.
Hall is a finalist for the Hart Trophy after finishing with NHL career highs in goals (39), assists (54) and points (93), helping the Devils qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
"It's amazing that the best part of his season probably coincided with his injury," Greene said of Hall. "Just the mental fortitude he had to battle through; it's not easy when you're a really elite player like he is to have this injury nagging you. But to continue to go out there and produce, dominate, and be such a huge part of the success is amazing. It's good he's gotten it fixed and he has the time now to rehab and get better and everything should be fine and shouldn't affect anything. It's great that he can be at 100 percent and have another great summer as he did last year."
Forward Patrick Maroon had surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back May 2. The Devils said the 30-year-old will be able to resume offseason training and preparation programs before the start of camp.
