Boston Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said he will be ready for training camp after recovering from a season-ending knee injury.
"I think the more I go on [the ice], the more my knee gets used to it, and like always, I never feel good when I start skating every summer, so it will take some time, but once training camp starts, I should be fine," Seidenberg told the Bruins website in remarks published Monday.
Seidenberg last played Dec. 27 and had surgery to repair an ACL/MCL injury in his right knee in early January. The prognosis was a return in 6-8 months but he said he could have played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs had the Bruins advanced to the Eastern Conference Final.
Boston, which won the Presidents' Trophy, was eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens on May 14 in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Second Round.
"Those times during my injury when the guys were still playing, it went slow. It was painful just to go to every game and watch," Seidenberg told writer Caryn Switaj. "Then there were times when it was going well and I saw progress with my injury, but then once the season was over."
Seidenberg had a goal and nine assists with a plus-11 rating in 34 games last season. He missed five games the previous three seasons.
"The knee is doing well," the 33-year-old said. "I went on the ice with my brother's [Yannic] team in Germany last week for a week, skating four or five times, and it didn't feel great, but that's something I expected before I went on, because I haven't been on for a few months. … So it's going, I think, like we expected."
The Bruins roster has six defensemen who played at least 47 games last season.
"It's basically just getting ready for next season again, and looking forward to it, because it's going to be eight months the next time I step on the ice [in Boston] …," Seidenberg said.
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