Johansen expected to be ready for training camp with Avalanche

DENVER -- Ryan Johansen expects to be 100 percent healthy by August and ready for the start of training camp with the Colorado Avalanche.

The 30-year-old center was acquired by the Avalanche in a trade with the Nashville Predators for forward Alex Galchenyuk on Saturday.

Johansen had surgery on his right leg and missed the final 27 games this season after he was cut by a skate blade against the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 21.

"I've had to make adjustments with training and rehabbing and all that stuff, but I was really happy to start getting on the ice at the start of June," Johansen said Monday. "I skated a couple times a week for about three weeks and felt really good. So that was super encouraging, just with that and being able to move forward and past that. So, I'd say I'm super close to 100 percent now, and hopefully it'll be, by August I think, just full on normal and [I'll] be myself. So, it's been encouraging to have confidence with moving over that injury and moving past it all."

Johansen had 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 55 games this season and has 555 points (189 goals, 366 assists) in 842 NHL games for the Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Avalanche are looking to rebound next season after they were eliminated by the Seattle Kraken in seven games in the Western Conference First Round, one season after winning the Stanley Cup.

"I think I can be a great asset and fit in this group," Johansen said. "It's a team sport, but as an individual I know what I'm capable of and I know how I can play in this league. For me to fit in best, I think it's just going to be me at the top of my game.

"When I was traded before (Jan. 6, 2016 to the Predators by the Blue Jackets for defenseman Seth Jones), it was in January. A bonus about being traded at this time of year is I got lots of time to adjust and get comfortable and get to know all the guys and get in there and get myself ready to be the best I can be and then just have an impact for this group right away. So, looking forward to taking these next few months before we get up and going and get as comfortable as possible."

Getting up to speed shouldn't be difficult thanks to his prior relationships with Avalanche coach Jared Bednar and assistant Nolan Pratt.

"Coach and 'Pratter' were my assistant coaches my second year, during the lockout year (2012-13) in Springfield, Mass., in the Columbus organization," Johansen said. "I don't have any really close friends [on the Avalanche] or anything, but I played with Jack Johnson for some years. A couple of the guys have lived out west, [Andrew] Cogliano and [Devon] Toews. I used to work out a little bit with Toews and with a group of NHL players here in Vancouver.

"I talk to many, many players about everything, and obviously a first-class organization is what's [Colorado is] known [as] around the League in the hockey world. Just from what I've heard and seen from playing there and being around the team, it's just world class."