There’s fair reason for Avalanche fans to be paranoid about lingering injuries when a newcomer arrives in Colorado these days, considering the baggage of last season that’s already stretching into the next one.
But the prognosis is promising for center Ryan Johansen, the Avalanche’s newest trade acquisition.
Johansen underwent surgery on his right leg in February after his ankle was sliced by a skate, causing him to miss the last 27 games of the season. But the Avs wouldn’t have made the trade with Nashville on Saturday without knowing Johansen’s recovery status was on steady pace. On Monday morning, Johansen confirmed it was.
“I’d say I’m super close to 100% now,” he told reporters. “And hopefully it’ll be by August, I think, just full-on normal.”
He was initially assessed a 12-week timeline by the Predators in late February. That timeline has passed, and Colorado’s goal is to have Johansen healthy and ready for training camp.
The 30-year-old said his offseason training has been different due to the rehab process, but he started getting on the ice in early June. From there, he skated “a couple times a week” for three weeks and felt signs of progress.
“That was super encouraging, just being able to move forward and past that,” Johansen said.
He had just woken up in Napa Valley, where he was visiting to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday, when Predators new general manager Barry Trotz called to deliver the news of the trade. Johansen has connected with the Avalanche front office and several of his new teammates since then. He’s under contract for the next two years.
“The guys have been awesome. … I don’t have any really close friends or anything, but I played with Jack Johnson for some years,” Johansen said. “Couple of the guys that have lived out west — (Andrew) Cogliano and (Devon) Toews. I used to work out a little bit with Toews and with a group of NHL players here in Vancouver.”
He also knows the Avalanche first-hand from experience as an opponent. Twice during his stay in Nashville, the Predators and Avs met in the playoffs. In 2018, Johansen was on the winning end as Colorado was still early in its rebuild. But his more striking memory is of the 2022 first-round series, which the eventual champion Avs swept.
“It was a tough team,” he said, laughing. “They outplayed us and beat us pretty bad. I got to witness a team in the playoffs that, at the time, almost felt untouchable. Felt like they couldn’t be stopped.
“It’s a hungry group. They’ve won. They know what it takes. And they want to continue to win. They want to do it again. For me as an older guy in the league now and having been around, it’s a real cool opportunity for me to come into this group and do what I can do … and hope (to) get back to that same stage.”
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