During the off-season, it was revealed Kesler had been playing with a shoulder injury since February 2012. Suffering from a torn labrum, he underwent surgery for the injury in May. Initially expected to have recovered by mid-November, his rehabilitation was extended for several months due to an additional wrist injury which he received surgery for in late-June. As a result, he made his 2012–13 season debut on February 15, 2013, in a 4–3 loss to the Dallas Stars. Due to the NHL lockout, which cancelled the first four months of the season, Kesler only missed 12 games. However, within seven games, Kesler was back on the injured reserve with a broken foot. He initially sustained the injury in his first game against Dallas, but subsequent X-rays came back negative. After playing through the pain for several games, an additional CT scan revealed the fracture.