Hertl ahead of his rehab schedule.
Tomas Hertl feels he’ll be ready to go whenever the San Jose Sharks begin training camp for the 2020-21 season.
Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said Thursday that Hertl is “well ahead of schedule” in his rehabilitation from torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee. Hertl, too, said if things continue to progress as they have been, he should have no problems starting training camp — whenever that might be — as a full participant.
Hertl, 26, suffered the injury Jan. 29 and had surgery shortly afterward. Torn ACL injuries typically take between six and eight months to rehabilitate.
“It’s already two months, and I feel great,” Hertl said by phone in an interview with this newspaper. “I’m walking normally, and my range of motion is back. Now it’s almost just get the muscle back, which should take some time. But we’ve got a lot of time left.”
Hertl has had knee injuries in the past, of course, notably needing surgery in December 2013 to repair the MCL and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee.
“He’s got full flexibility and extension of his knee,” Wilson said. “He knows the process to go through. This is not an unknown for him.
“He’s healed up, he’s rested, he’s got full extension. He’s got some strengthening to do, but he even feels he’s ahead of where
he thought he would be, and that’s been confirmed by our training staff.”
Hertl said he could be skating right now if he wanted, “but it’s no hurry. I can almost be skating like normal at the end of July or August. Now it’s just important to get healed.
“There’s nothing you can do. The healing process takes time, so I just now stay away from the ice and make sure I get the muscle back and everything goes right.”
Hertl remained in San Jose for his rehabilitation and is at the team’s practice facility six days a week with head athletic trainer Ray Tufts. He’s the only player there with Santa Clara County’s shelter in place mandate for the public.
“It’s a little bit boring,” Hertl said. “Last time, you always had some guys in the locker room and you hang out. Now you just kind of be alone.”
Wilson on Joe Thornton
Sharks center Joe Thornton, who will turn 41 this summer, has expressed his desire to return and play what would be a 23rd NHL season. Thornton has played in all 70 games so far this season, earning 31 points and averaging 15:30 of ice time per game.
Still, Wilson sounded somewhat coy about bringing Thornton back.
“Everybody knows how we feel about Joe,” Wilson said. “I talk to him every few days. He’s probably climbing the walls not being able to be at the rink. But like every other player, I’ll sit down with him and do the evaluation at the end of the year. But I think you all know how we feel about him.”
So is there a place for Thornton on the Sharks’ roster next season?
“He’s a special man,” Wilson said. “That’s all I’ll say.”
Next year’s salary cap
It’s unclear how badly the shutdown will affect the NHL’s hockey related revenues, a figure that is used to calculate the league’s salary cap.
Earlier this week, Sharks president Jonathan Becher said, “It’s clear to me the losses this season will significantly exceed what we initially expected and be the largest it’s been before. I can’t give you a number yet, but it will be a big number.”
Assuming that’s true across the league, how might the Sharks proceed from a hockey standpoint if the cap remains flat at $81.5 million or even shrinks?
“On the hockey side, we look at it and we say, ‘OK, when it does start up, and it will start up again, whether it be for this season or next season, here’s the parameters that we have to operate under,’” Wilson said. “We may need to have younger players coming or players on entry-level contracts. We may have to make some tough decisions on some key players. That’s just going to be the nature of our business.”
Is Wilson concerned or fearful that he may have to buy out a player’s contract? Right now, the Sharks have eight players — Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Evander Kane, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Timo Meier, Martin Jones and Hertl — whose combined cap hit for next season is over $59 million.
“I think every team has got that same concern,” Wilson said. “Am I fearful? No, it’ll be mandated to us what the rules are going forward, what the cap is and all that. Until then, we just focus on the things we can focus on, which is preparing for the draft, preparing for decisions on some players that could be available such as (recent additions) Brinson (Pasichnuk) and John (Leonard).
“Got a couple more things in the hopper that we’re looking at right now. Potentially, who could be UFA. You look under every rock to find out ways to get better.”