The start date for the NHL's 2021-22 season isn't officially set yet, but Islanders captain Anders Lee plans to be there on Opening Night.
Lee, who suffered a torn ACL on March 11 and underwent surgery on March 17, said at Sunday's end-of-season Islanders media session that he is "on track" to be back this fall when the new NHL season opens.
"I was able to do a lot of really good things in the last 13 or 14 weeks since surgery here, and we pushed it pretty good and got as far as we could," Lee said. "I'm looking forward to continuing on that path and being ready for camp."
According to last reports, October 12 is the target date for the start of next season, which would have Lee back on the ice roughly seven months after the injury and surgery. He's confident, and so is head coach Barry Trotz – to a degree.
"I think there's plenty of time to rest and recover, I think, for most players in the NHL -- unless you have a major, major injury where it takes time we don't have," Trotz said. "But it'll probably be more of the emotional thing -- can you get it cranked up to do another 82 games? It's going to be strange to play 82 games. And it's going to be a lot different, but I think it'll be refreshing for, I'll say, our team. And hopefully it's refreshing, and they take that attitude."
Listen to New York sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Islanders team gear
Lee had 12 goals and seven assists in 27 games this year before suffering the torn ACL. He is scheduled to make $9 million actual money next season in the third year of the seven-year, $49 million deal the left winger signed prior to the 2018-19 campaign.
The Islanders were able to place him on long-term IR and use his salary slot to add Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac this season, but Lee continued to be a big part of the team – and was just as gutted as his mates when their season ended four wins shy of a Cup for the second straight year.
"It's a really tough thing to have to kind of deal with in a year where we've been building for this thing for a long time," Lee said. "I think we had a group that we know what we were capable of. So getting hurt was pretty tough. But I think from the onset, I had a really good mindset of what I wanted to do, not only in terms of my rehab but just within the room, being as involved as I could. You just want to be out there with the guys, but I had to take a different approach in the sense of accepting what had gone on and embracing this new challenge of trying to still be who I wanted to be throughout all of this."
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
