Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

‘If he’s healthy, he can help us': Torres expected to join Sharks after suspension ends

Raffi Torres

Raffi Torres

AP

Raffi Torres has served 24 of the 41-game suspension he received for a preseason hit to the head of Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg -- meaning that, at the time of writing, he’s roughly six weeks away from getting back into the San Jose lineup.

So long as he’s healthy, of course.

Per head coach Peter DeBoer, Torres is “still dealing a little bit with his injury from before.” That injury, you’ll recall, is Torres’ problematic right knee, specifically the surgically repaired ACL that’s undergone a variety of procedures over the last two years, and cost him all of the ’14-15 campaign.

More, from CSN Bay Area:

Torres is still eligible to return on Jan. 14 when the Sharks host former coach Todd McLellan and the Edmonton Oilers.

He is working out off the ice, and occasionally skates with his teammates for portions of practice or morning skates, but there’s still some uncertainty whether his surgically repaired knee will allow him to be an effective NHL player when the ban expires.

While Torres’ health is uncertain, San Jose’s plan for him is crystal clear. DeBoer said both he and GM Doug Wilson were on the same page for getting Torres back into the lineup once the suspension is over.

“Raffi is a guy that can help us,” DeBoer said. “If he’s healthy, he can help us. I don’t think Doug [Wilson] or I differ on that opinion.”