Tavares: No Surgery Needed

John Tavares had some good news for reporters after Isles practice today.

Tavares said he had the same partial MCL tear in left knee at  age 16 and he needed 6 weeks to recover with rehab.  He seemed comfortable with how to go about the recovery process because of his familiarity with his injury.  When asked about how the knee feels, he told @StephenCLorenzo, "A pretty good first few days actually, my knee’s responded really well. Having a gold medal has helped out as well I think."

 

Tavares told NHL.com, "I had a real good response the first time around my first season back from that injury. I'm just hoping to come back even better and stronger and I've got a good amount of time to work on that."

 

He added, "Anytime you can avoid [surgery], and that's not necessary, I think that can make a big difference. This will really give me a good offseason to get some rest and get stronger and work on a lot of things again, so I'm really looking forward to that. That's where I'm trying to put my focus now, so certainly that's a big step."

Tavares said that he appreciated all the support from the Isles organization and his teammates in his Olympic bid and with his injury.  He concluded that he hopes to comeback and make an impact on the Islanders soon. 

 

 

Me too.

 

 

Isles Notes:

 

Lines at practice today:  Vanek-Nelson-Okposo, Grabner-Bailey-Clutterbuck, Lee-Strome-McDonald, Halmo-Cizikas-Boulton.

Per Matt Saidman, "Martin and Nielsen are skating on their own, doing simple puck handling and skating drills. Very little shooting."

 

Mike Halmo is wearing No. 43 for the Isles.

 

Trade Rumor:

Per Hockey Rumors & Trades!, Boston media is reporting that the Bruins are considering using Malcolm Subban as a trade chip to acquire a Dman replacement for the injured Dennis Seidenberg. The Bruins are believed to be very interested in Islanders Andrew MacDonald. 

 

B.D. Gallof says the Isles interest in Bruins Malcolm Subban is ZERO.