The 25-year-old defenseman missed the final four months last season after surgery to repair a torn right pectoralis muscle sustained during a game against the Calgary Flames on Dec. 15, 2018. He had 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 32 games for the Wild, who failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2012. Dumba was leading NHL defensemen with 12 goals at the time of the injury.
"I'm good," Dumba said at the NHL Player Media Tour in Chicago on Thursday. "Everything's back to normal; I'd say even better. … I've had more time to train than anyone else in the League, so I'm feeling fresh. I'm real excited to get back going here.
"I think if you talk to any player or anyone who's been sidelined from their job or what they love to do, it's tough. You don't really realize the grind it has on you mentally, physically. Obviously you're trying to get back as fast as you can, but just that mental process of kind of trying to always having to talk about it or kind of put on that smile when things aren't going as well as you want them to be. I think I learned a lot from that, just from that struggle. I'm trying to put that in the past. I'm trying to just be better for that and move on here."
Dumba said he used a strong offseason training regimen to prepare for camp. The No. 7 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft had an NHL career-high 50 points (14 goals, 36 assists) and was plus-15 in 82 games for Minnesota in 2017-18.
"I think what got me going is just that itch for the game, kind of missing out on that competitive nature of things," Dumba said. "I think I said to my friends at one point, I was just like, 'I just want to be in a scrum. I want to battle. I'm just cooped up in my apartment, man.' It's tough. I think all the best players have probably had that feeling through injury. It's not easy."
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report
