Senators’ Brady Tkachuk eager to return after thumb surgery

For the next few weeks, Brady Tkachuk will have to sit and watch.

The Ottawa Senators captain spoke on Wednesday for the first time since undergoing surgery on his right thumb.

Although the team has previously given a six-to-eight-week timeline for his return, Tkachuk said he was itching to get back as soon as possible.

“Everything is going in the right direction,” he said. “Today was the first day I started to do stuff, and I feel like that’s going to keep me sane. Whenever the guys are playing and you’re not playing, you always want to be able to go to battle with them, so that’s been the toughest part is not being able to be around in those moments.”

Tkachuk said he would be limited to skating for some time before expecting to be cleared for puck-handling around Week 3 or 4 of rehab.

He added that there is no concern about missing the Olympics, where he was among the first six players named to the U.S. team for the Feb. 11-22 tournament in Italy.

Tkachuk also clarified that the injury was a fully torn thumb ligament. He said doctors said the two-hour operation was successful at the time, which was confirmed in a check-up appointment on Tuesday in New York.

“It’s definitely a tough test mentally, but I think with that is an opportunity to get better because of it,” Tkachuk said. “Stuff like this happens and now it’s an opportunity to find different levels for me as a person and me as a player.”

Tkachuk sustained the injury earlier in October when he was cross-checked five minutes into a game into the boards by Nashville Predators defenceman Roman Josi.

He stayed in the game, a 4-1 loss to the Predators, before leaving midway through the third period, adding that he knew the injury was serious when he fired a shot on a partial breakaway that came out like a “muffin.”

Tkachuk said Wednesday that Josi has since texted him to check in after the play.

“It was nice of him. He didnâ€t have to do that,” Tkachuk said.

Ottawa sits 14th in the Eastern Conference at 2-4-1 entering action Wednesday, an early hole made deeper by Tkachuk’s absence.

But the captain said he’s not worried.

“I have full belief and faith in this group. We’re getting back to our identity,” he said.

The 26-year-old has been a key player for the Senators in recent years. Through three games this season, he had three assists and 10 hits.

Last season, Tkachuk posted 29 goals and 26 assists through 72 games while laying 228 hits and firing 296 shots on goal. He added four goals and three assists in the Senators’ six-game first-round loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs.

Over his eight-year career, all of which has been spent in Canada’s capital, Tkachuk has 191 goals and 216 assists in 515 games.

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