The Washington Capitals’ most major offseason addition, veteran winger Max Pacioretty, knows when he wants to get back on the ice to make both his season and Capitals debut this year. But, he’s not quite to the point where he wants to share that information publicly just yet.
The 34-year-old made light of his secrecy by comparing what he’s revealed about his Achilles tendon surgery recovery process to how New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has handled the exact same injury.
Rodgers has spoken at length, particularly in his weekly appearances on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show, about the status of his comeback attempt, some of his less than conventional treatment methods, and perhaps an unrealistic timeline for when he wants to play again.
Pacioretty made the crack about Rodgers when prompted to give a timeframe on Tuesday for when he thought he would be in the Capitals lineup.
“I do, personally,” Pacioretty said. “Internally, I haven’t shared that with anyone other than my family. I guess a little different than Aaron Rodgers’ situation, right? I’ve been through this before. It’s circled in pencil around a couple days where I want to be. Ultimately, that’s out of my control. I haven’t talked to the team about that but it’s something that would be pretty special to me.”
Meanwhile, on the flip side, Rodgers was caught on camera Monday night telling Los Angeles Chargers star Derwin James to “give me a few weeks” when asked when he was returning. Rodgers tore his Achilles just 57 days ago, an injury that typically has a full-healing time of nine months.
“Give me a few weeks.”
This convo between Aaron Rodgers and Derwin James 👀 pic.twitter.com/Zh4fasl9yr
— ESPN (@espn) November 7, 2023
While Rodgers, who has been known in the past to “do his own research” about medical concerns, ditched his crutches far before when is likely recommended by doctors, Pacioretty doesn’t have the time nor desire to risk anything after tearing his Achilles twice in a span of five months.
The six-time 30-goal scorer values every skate he has taken recently and has the Capitals’ training staff monitoring his every move. Equipment manager Brock Myles also has a part to play as Pacioretty now needs to wear a special skate on his right foot.
“I’m starting to feel pretty decent out there actually,” Pacioretty said. “There’s a lot of tweaks and a lot different things behind the scenes that people are doing to help me make sure that I’m able to go out there and perform and stay healthy. I’m thankful for all of the people that are helping me with that.
“Obviously, the size of my tendon is significantly different now. After playing for so long and wearing the same skates for so long there are significant tweaks you have to make and it took a little bit of time to get that figured out. But I do feel confident that we have it right.”
Pacioretty has only gotten into 44 NHL games since the start of the 2021-22 season. He puts a lot of the blame on playing through less severe injuries earlier in his career.
“It all kind of snowballs,” Pacioretty said. “I feel like we have a grasp on what has been going on in my career. I’ve been known to play through injuries and obviously when do you so you get compensation patterns. I dealt with two broken feet in two years and I think that’s when this really all started to happen.”
The Connecticut native says he’s seen several specialists in Finland, Germany, Canada, and the United States. He has also consulted with other athletes that have gone through the same injury and has even become an outlet for others that have more recently torn their Achilles, like Buffalo Sabres youngster Jack Quinn.
With a return now on the horizon and a light at the end of the tunnel, Pacioretty says he is much happier now after what has been a miserable almost two years.
“I feel like I’m getting my legs back, having fun,” Pacioretty said. “I’ve only skated three times but this is what I was born to do so it feels like some normalcy in my life and I definitely have much more of a smile on my face now that I’m skating.
“There was a good solid two or three months where I was ready to stop playing. I’ve spent a good portion of the last year and a bit in bed not being able to do things with my family and my kids. It’s important for me to do this for myself but also for my family and my kids to show them that we can get through this together. I know I have so much more hockey in the tank. I’m a different person when I’m out there skating. This is what I was born to do and I want to do this as long as I can.”
Screenshot via @Capitals/X
