Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tyler Johnson said Wednesday his injured right wrist is not completely healed and he is unsure if he will miss any time during training camp.
"It's progressing; I don't know if I would say that it's 100 percent, but it's getting there," Johnson told The Tampa Tribune. "It feels better every day, so it's one of those things now that it just keeps getting strength and it feels better."
Johnson wore a brace on the wrist that was fractured in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks in June. The injury did not require surgery, and he went without the brace in mid-August.
Asked by the Tampa Bay Times if he would be limited during training camp and preseason, Johnson said, "I sure hope not. You never know what can happen in two weeks though."
Johnson, 24, landed on the wrist following a hit from Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook but played the remainder of the series. He led the Stanley Cup Playoffs in scoring with 13 goals and 23 points in 26 games, but had one goal in the final 10 games and stopped taking faceoffs in Game 2 of the Final.
"It's tough when you get to that part of the season, the Stanley Cup Final, you think about that your entire life, and not to be necessarily 100 percent," Johnson said. "But the thing is, nobody is when you get to that point in the playoffs. It was a true lesson to learn that everyone is beat up, everyone has to play through it. Unfortunately for me, I was a little worse than some. …
"We discussed [sitting out], but it never really went further than discussing it. There was no way I was going to sit out a Stanley Cup game.''
Johnson was tied for 14th in the NHL in scoring last season with 72 points and tied for 16th with 29 goals.
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