BUFFALO – In the back of his mind, winger Jason Zucker said he and the Sabres have a time frame for when he can play again after undergoing sports hernia surgery in early August.
“But it’s a very soft date at this point,” Zucker said this morning in KeyBank Center.
For now, Zucker, 34, is rehabbing skating and joining his teammates for pregame skates. He participated in a gray non-contact jersey this morning as the Sabres prepared for their game against the Dallas Stars.
“It’s progressing well,” he said. “We’re kind of on track where we wanted to be right now. Kind of unfortunate timing with everything, but it feels good now. It feels good to be back on the ice and ready to go.”
Zucker said he did not “have a good answer” when asked if he was battling the injury last season.
“It was unfortunate the way that happened in the summer, I needed to get surgery on it,” the veteran said.
Zucker, the Sabres’ oldest and most Sabres player, scored 24 goals and 45 points in 62 games last season.
In other news, coach Lindy Ruff said defenseman Conor Timmins might start rehab skating today.
Timmins suffered a lower-body injury Sept. 26 when he crashed awkwardly into the boards late in the preseason finale.
In lineup news, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen practiced this morning in the net usually reserved for that night’s starter.