Brady Tkachuk can only play the role of spectator right now.
But the Ottawa Senators captain still is trying to lend a hand to his teammates while recovering from surgery to repair torn ligaments in his thumb suffered on Oct. 13 against the Nashville Predators.
The timeline for Tkachuk’s recovery is six to eight weeks, but he’s not the kind of guy who can sit around and do nothing, so that past couple of games he has tried to act as another set of eyes from the press box.
If he can’t be getting assists on the ice, Tkachuk doesn’t mind trying to give some assistance off the ice as the Senators make the climb back towards respectability after a difficult start to the year.
Speaking in the second intermission on Amazon Prime Monday Night Hockey during the club’s 7-1 victory over the Boston Bruins, Tkachuk told play-by-play commentator John Forslund and colour analyst Jody Shelley that he has been relaying information to his teammates between periods.
“I’m doing well,” Tkachuk said. “It’s always tough watching, but the boys are playing some great hockey right now, so it’s fun to watch. I’m just watching up top so I’m able to communicate things during intermissions, and after games, so I’ve got a job to do as well tonight.”
This isn’t something that head coach Travis Green and his staff asked Tkachuk to do. He took it upon himself to see if there might be a tip or two he could pass along, instead, of watching the game in the dressing room or in a private box in the rink.
Is that something he wanted to do?
“It’s something I didn’t do at the start, and I felt like I was so bored down there (in the dressing room),” Tkachuk said. “The last couple of games I’ve come up (to the press box), and it’s nice to see the game up here, feel the energy, and maybe see a couple of things I can translate to the room.”
Tkachuk said he’s trying to keep close tabs on how his teammates are playing when he’s passing along some knowledge.
“There is a little coach coming out in me right now, but I’m a player at heart,” Tkachuk added with a smile. “I can see what we’re trying to do and little plays within the system, but we’re playing some good hockey right now.”
When Tkachuk learned he’d undergo the procedure on Oct. 16 in New York City, he texted Green right away to let him know that he wanted to be around the team as much as possible during the recovery period.
Knock on wood, of course, but Tkachuk is the only player on the Senators injury list at the moment and, generally speaking, those who suffer ailments often are at the rink on their own or away from the team.
Tkachuk accompanied the Senators to Washington for their 7-1 victory over the Capitals on Saturday night.
He even took part in the morning skate, using only one hand, of course, because he has been instructed by doctors not to try to handle the puck for three weeks. His right hand is in a cast.
Tkachuk’s teammates like having him around, but he didn’t make the trip for the second game of the back-to-back against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night because there was no morning skate at the United Center.
Instead, Tkachuk stayed in Ottawa to continue his rehabilitation, but the players enjoy having him around as much as possible during this period.
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“It’s awesome,” winger Drake Batherson said on Saturday in Washington. “You don’t see it a lot with guys who are injured for a long period of time to come on the road. It just goes to show how much he wants to be around the guys.
“We love having him around. It’s great, and it’s better than being at home (at the rink) all by yourself for sure.”
They didn’t react well to his injury initially, but the Senators have played better of late and won their third straight against Boston.
The club moved its record to 5-4-1 in the first 10 games. The Senators haven’t had a winning record at this juncture of the season since the 2017-18 campaign.
“Everything is magnified at the start,” Tkachuk said. “You always look at it after five or 10 games to know where you’re at. These last (three) games have shown we’re starting to find it, and we’re reengaging in our identity.”