Raffi Torres is eligible to return from his 41-game suspension on Jan. 14, but an injury will likely keep him out for longer than that.
The 34-year-old forward only resumed skating today after undergoing a procedure on Dec. 11 to have scar tissue removed from his surgically repaired right knee, per the Mercury News. The hope is that he’ll be healthy enough to play shortly after his suspension ends.
As previously reported, there’s no question that the Sharks do plan on using him if he’s healthy despite his lengthy history of controversial hits.
His latest infraction occurred during a preseason game when he hit Anaheim’s Jakob Silfverberg in the head. Torres has apologized for the incident and said, “I am disappointed I have put myself in a position to be suspended again.”
Between injury woes and suspensions, Torres has only played in 44 games since the start of the 2012-2013 campaign.