Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov hoping worst is behind him while recovering from another injury
It has been a year since Andrei Svechnikov was a part of the NHL All-Star Weekend in Florida, the Carolina Hurricanes forward winning the fastest-skater competition, flashing a photogenic smile for the cameras as he was being interviewed.
Svechnikov was an All-Star for the first time, at 22. The Hurricanes were in first place in the Metropolitan Division, headed to the Stanley Cup playoffs again. Life was good.
Little could Svechnikov have known what was to come …
There was the ACL tear to his right knee in March that abruptly ended his season and kept him out of the playoffs, making him an antsy observer at Canes games.
Svechnikov, although a diligent worker in his offseason rehab, was not ready for the start of the 2023-24 regular season, missing the first eight games and perhaps then rushing his return.
He missed another six games in December after what he said was a torn oblique muscle. More recently came an injury to his other oblique, the muscle in the lower back that connects the ribs and the top of the hip bones, that kept him out the four games before the Canes’ bye week and NHL All-Star break.
When practice resumed for the Canes on Sunday, Svechnikov was in a yellow no-contact jersey, and in it again Monday. His availability for Tuesday’s home game against the Vancouver Canucks remains uncertain.
“It’s still not there yet,” Svechnikov said of the injury. “It’s just day by day and we’ll see when I’m ready for the next game. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow and just every day get better.
“But I don’t know. We’ll see.”
By any measure, it has been a disjointed season for Svechnikov, a big, strong power forward who invites contact on the ice and gives the Canes some thump in the lineup at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Sunday has not sensed any apparent frustration from Svechinkov, who he often has called a difference-maker on the ice. In the 29 games Svechnikov has been able to play this season, he has six game-winning goals and 30 points.
“It’s tough to deal with injuries,” Brind’Amour said. “Obviously, he started slow because he couldn’t get in there right away. Then he got going. Now, another hiccup.
“That’s not how you want to do it, certainly not for him as an individual or us as a team. He’s one of our best players. You want him out there as much as you can.”
In Svechnikov’s last game, Jan 19 against Detroit, he had the winning goal on a power play. In 13 games after his first oblique injury, he had 10 goals and nine assists as the Canes went 9-2-2.
Svechnikov had a hat trick against the Montreal Canadiens, filling the ice with head wear at PNC Arena. Everything appeared to be smoothing out for him. No. 37 was back and Canes fans loved it, thundering when he punched in a rebound for the winner against the Red Wings.
“I was having fun,” Svechnikov said.
The goal against the Wings came on a power play in the third period. But Svechnikov said he had been injured “kind of randomly” in the second and that considerable soreness soon set in after the game.
“It’s a tough one,” he said. “You can’t really skate or shoot. Movement is kind of hard. It’s really frustrating but there’s nothing I can do. I cannot control that.
“It’s been like that the whole last year. Hopefully it will turn the other way.”
In an N&O interview before the All-Star break, Svechnikov said he was told it would take nine to 12 months after the ACL injury and needed reconstructive surgery for the knee to be back to full strength.
It was not at full strength, he said, on Oct. 27 when he played against the San Jose Sharks at PNC Arena in his first game of the season.
Svechnikov did not score until his 12th game despite getting his chances, getting off 22 shots. His first goal: the game-winner against Columbus on Nov. 26, when he had six shots in the home game.
“Jumping right into the games was pretty hard,” he said. “My knee wasn’t fully ready for that, for sure.
“But at that point, I wouldn’t have improved at the rink by myself or skating by myself. I had to kind of jump in and play through the pain. Just forget about my knee and try to focus on the game.”
Taking a hard cross-check in from Winnipeg’s Logan Stanley in the Dec. 4 road game, Svechnikov played the next game at Edmonton but then had to sit again because of the oblique injury. Adding to the pain was the Canes losing four straight games on the Western Canada road swing while being outscored 15-7.
For Svechnikov, who was only able to watch, it was a helpless feeling.
“After tearing the oblique, I couldn’t move, really,” he said. “I tried not to get frustrated but just get back.”
That’s all Svechnikov wants for now: to get back again. He said he did not watch the All-Star skills competition this past weekend — Edmonton’s Connor McDavid took the fastest skater title for a fourth time — but did see teammate Sebastian Aho play Saturday in the All-Star Game’s three-on-three tournament.
Svechnikov said he went to Florida for a few days, only to have goalie Pyotr Kochetkov break a tooth (albeit a false tooth) eating a salad on the first day. Then it was back for some early skating before Sunday’s practice.
The Canes (28-15-5) won their last three games before the break. There are still much bigger games to play.
“I’m just excited for what’s to come and hopefully I will be staying healthy,” Svechnikov said. “Hopefully we’ll continue winning and then we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
This story was originally published February 5, 2024 at 12:17 PM.
