Rickard Rakell is getting closer to a return, as he skated with his teammates in a full capacity on Friday in Toronto for the first time since getting injured last month.
“It feels great to be back with the team, practicing with the team, and just doing normal drills,” Rakell said. “So, definitely a step in the right direction. Happy to be back.”
Rakell is eligible to return from long-term injured reserve on Saturday, when the Penguins close out their road trip with a game against the Maple Leafs, after missing a minimum of 10 games (he’s been out for 11 and counting) and 24 calendar days.
“We’ll see how he responds,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ll take it day to day. But we’re certainly encouraged with what we saw out there today.”
Rakell last played on Nov. 19 versus Vegas before getting sidelined, a difficult development in what had been a tough start for him personally. He has yet to find the back of the net this season, which is uncharacteristic for a player who passed the 20-goal mark last season for the fifth time in his career, scoring 28.
But when the injury first happened, Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas said they hoped Rakell could use this as an opportunity to reset and go through a miniature training camp of sorts.
“Then when he comes back, (hopefully) everything underlying and his impact on the game remains the same, and the puck just starts to bounce the right way for him, and he'll be rolling like he always has in his career,” Dubas said.
That’s exactly how Rakell has been viewing this whole situation.
“Obviously, I was in a pretty dark place when everything went down,” he said. “But I think I've got some time now to process this. For me, it's just trying to look at this as a fresh start, new opportunities out there, and just try to play my game and reset.”
