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After missing 40 games with an unprecedented injury, Seattle captain Jordan Eberle has been activated from injured reserve and is expected to play when the Kraken face the Florida Panthers on Saturday in Sunrise, Florida.
Eberle suffered a pelvic injury in a Nov. 14 game against the Chicago Blackhawks, an injury that no other player in the league had ever experienced, according to NHL.com.
Eberle’s doctor reportedly consulted with New Zealand rugby players who had experienced the same injury to help them decide on surgery. That was followed by an arduous, 14-week rehab program that initially required Eberle to be confined to a hospital bed.
The latest phase of his rehab had Eberle spending the 4 Nations Face-Off break practicing with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds in an attempt to get up to the speed and physicality of the NHL game.
“I think I’m at the point now where I’m battling in practice and moving the way I want to,” Eberle said, according to NHL.com. “Now it just comes down to getting into game action. That’s the only way you can test [your body]. I’ve done everything else up to that point.
“Obviously, I’ve had over three months off. I feel like I’m in game shape right now, but [it’s about] the timing and getting that aggressiveness back. I think it helps that I’m coming back with the guys after the break, where everyone’s been off for a while as well. I’m hoping that I can get back and just get right back into it.”
Kraken coach Dan Bylsma called Eberle’s recovery “utterly and painfully slow” but also “unprecedented” and had expressed optimism in late January that he was making great progress.
“As we’ve gotten closer, it’s him on the ice, off the ice, desperately wanting to get back and get with the group, with his work ethic,” Bylsma said. “It’s just an indicator of what we’ve missed. … Just seeing him back with the group, seeing his work ethic, seeing his determination to get back is a clear indicator of what we’ve missed.”
Kraken general manager Ron Francis expressed cautious optimism about Eberle’s return.
“Anytime you come back from injury, it’s usually kind of a little burst and then a lull and then you get back to it,” Francis said. “I’m just excited he’s back, and we’ll see how things go.”
Eberle, 34, has 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists) in 17 games this season, his fourth with the Kraken. He signed a two-year, $9.5 million extension with Seattle in March.
He has 713 points (305 goals, 408 assists) in 1,035 games with the Edmonton Oilers (2010-17), New York Islanders (2017-21) and Kraken. The Oilers drafted him in the first round (22nd overall) in 2008.
