The situation isn\u2019t as straightforward as Sunday\u2019s exhibition match for the 34-year-old forward, who\u2019s coming into Oilers Training Camp as a professional tryout who\u2019s missed the last two full seasons of professional hockey with long COVID.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a condition that\u2019s characterized by horrible shortness of breath, which made his day-to-day dealings as a professional player almost untenable after last playing in a competitive contest 876 days ago on May 1, 2021 as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I’ve been through a lot over the last two-and-a-half years and I’m going to be very conscious of my health and stuff like that, but it’s been great so far. I really can’t complain after a week,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just taking it day by day trying to enjoy it and have some fun with it, too.<\/p>\n
After building himself back to a position where he was comfortable attempting to play in the NHL again, Sutter is expected to get plenty of looks in the preseason on his PTO.<\/p>\n
But Head Coach Jay Woodcroft is prepared to proceed cautiously and patiently with the centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think process-wise with him, we should expect him to play three of the first five exhibition games,\u201d Woodcroft said. \u201cI’m going to try and stay away from playing too many people back-to-back, so he won’t be playing tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s kind of up to Woody to figure that out,\u201d Sutter added. \u201cI know we have eight pre-season games. I’m not sure what the schedule will be, but I’m just kind of taking a day at a time right now and focusing on tomorrow, then we’ll go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n