Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrej Meszaros will undergo surgery to remove a small disc fragment in his lower back on Wednesday, according to TSN.
The surgery will be performed by Dr. Alex Vaccaro at Thomas Jefferson Hospital on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old, who has missed the Flyers' last nine games due to the injury, is expected be out of action for six-to-eight weeks, which means he will not be ready until the second round of the playoffs at the earliest.
Although rookies Erik Gustafsson and Brandon Manning have performed well in his absence, losing Meszaros is a huge blow for the Flyers defense, which has been depleted this season without captain Chris Pronger and fellow blueliner Pavel Kubina and Andreas Lilja, who are sidelined with injuries.
In 62 games with the Flyers this season, Meszaros has tallied seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points.
