On the first episode of his new podcast, Brady Tkachuk provided an update on how he’s doing after wrist surgery.
“I’m in the dog days of being injured right now. It sucks,” Brady told his brother and co-host Matthew on the debut episode of their podcast, Wingmen, which launched on Thursday and appears to have been recorded earlier this week.
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“On Thursday (Nov 13), I’m going to be four weeks post-surgery. Luckily, with this surgery, I was able to skate six days after. So I’ve been going probably three times, four times a week, over the last three weeks.”
That’s the upside of upper-body injuries. You can usually keep your fitness up and not miss a beat when you return to play.
Matthew then threw it out there that Brady would probably be back in a couple of weeks, and the Sens captain agreed. Again, keep in mind the podcast was recorded at least two days ago. Brady also spoke about how pleased he was to work with pucks this week for the first time since the injury. And he was especially pumped about how good everything felt.
“Yeah, I was able to actually stick handle last night in the shooting room, my first time. And the hands felt good too. Like, they felt good. I was happy with them.
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“I’m able to stick handle on the ice now. And I’m really hoping that, come Friday, I’ll be able to skate with the guys as a shadow, as I still work on my hands. I’ll probably be able to shoot.”
Brady did just that on Friday, and while he wasn’t unleashing Happy Gilmore slapshots, his shots weren’t muffins either. His rebuilt wrist looked strong at the club’s optional practice. In one drill, he worked the slot area, receiving alternating passes sent from the boards and launching firm wrist shots at a practice goalie.
At his media availability, Green said Tkachuk was probably still a couple of weeks away at least, but he will be going on the club’s upcoming seven-game road trip, which begins on Thursday.
Green also said that there’s nothing new to report about Thomas Chabot’s upper-body injury, other than he’s day-to-day and doubtful to play on Saturday.
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Meanwhile, the last guy you would have expected to see at an optional practice was veteran defenseman Nick Jensen. Jensen is 35, coming back from off-season, hip resurfacing surgery and left Thursday night’s victory over the Boston Bruins with an injury at the end of the second period.
But it’s good to see that whatever knocked him out of that game obviously isn’t serious.
Green didn’t rule him out for Saturday’s game, but if he can’t go, the Sens will have to call someone up from Belleville. Their right-shot options would be former first-rounders Carter Yakemchuk and Lassi Thomson, along with Ottawa native Cameron Crotty. Thomson and Crotty are not waivers-exempt.
On the left side, it’s probably Jorian Donovan, another Ottawan, or AHL-signed Scott Harrington. Harrington is the only one not on an NHL contract, but he does have the most NHL experience by far.
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Yakemchuk is the club’s top prospect and leads all Belleville defensemen with 8 points in 13 games. He was in Ottawa’s final cuts in each of the last two training camps. If the Sens need a body, then giving Yakemchuk a little taste of the NHL at a time when they’ve built themselves a little room for error wouldn’t be a bad play for his development.
You also never really know for sure how close a player is to being a full-time NHL player until you see him in meaningful NHL games. Perhaps Yakemchuk is more NHL-ready than they realize.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News/Ottawa
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