Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson has been recovering from a left ankle sprain since Oct 25, and he’s optimistic he could return to game action this week — perhaps as soon as Tuesday’s home game against the Washington Capitals.
“Everything’s up in the air,” he said Monday after practice at Fifth Third Arena. “I still have to have a talk with coaches and training staff and try to figure it out.”
Coach Luke Richardson said Johnson is “close.”
“If he’s ready tomorrow morning, we’re probably going to put him in the lineup,” Richardson said Monday. “We’ll have to reconfigure things, but we want to make sure he got through another day of practice today with no setback. He said he felt pretty good at the end of practice, so tomorrow morning we’ll make that decision.”
Johnson has had a few setbacks since his ankle was twisted awkwardly during a game against the Florida Panthers.
Trainers alternated between having Johnson wear a boot to stabilize the ankle and letting him take it off to relieve soreness.
Just as it appeared he would be activated from injured reserve, the team determined he needed more time.
“It was really frustrating,” Johnson said. “Obviously you never want to hear that, hey, you’ve got to slow it back down again.”
Johnson realized he needed he to take a step back when he tried to take contact during practice.
“Before, when I was skating, I felt great, felt 100%,” he said, “but then once contact rolled around, it was a little bit tougher because your body’s just not ready for the ankles shifting and stuff.”
However, he said, “the last couple of days, I’ve done a lot more and I feel good.”
Johnson, who missed four months last season while recovering from neck surgery, expected a relatively quick return, but he learned ankle sprains can be “very, very tricky.”
“Ankles are tough, especially in hockey,” he said. “If I was playing basketball or football or any other sport besides putting your ankle in a boot, I would have been back a long time ago.
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“Guys that have it, playing hockey, they always say it’s one of the worst injuries to have. I never really understood that until I had it, and it’s really annoying. It just kind of lingers a little bit.”
He said this past week “has been by far the best that I’ve felt, so it’s continually progressing. That’s all you can really ask for.”
If he’s ready, the Hawks could use the offensive boost. They’ve scored one goal over the last three games.
Richardson said Johnson’s return would solidify the top six forwards. The group has seen a lot of shuffling because of injuries and mixing up lines to create a spark.
“It gives us options for sure, but I think he’s going to help on the power play,” Richardson said. “He’s going to help with some veteran leadership and winning experience and settle things down when things get a little bit rocky, and just another guy in that role helps.
“He’s a smart player. He can play in all situations. Other than maybe putting him on defense, we can use him anywhere and we’ll be happy to have him back.”
In other injury news, the Hawks activated goaltender Petr Mrázek (groin) from injured reserve and sent Jaxson Stauber back to the Rockford IceHogs.
“He’s going to start tomorrow,” Richardson said of Mrázek. “We want to get him back in. His last game (a 5-2 win against the New York Rangers on Dec. 3) was a really solid game. Unfortunately, just a precaution he had to come out with the injury.”