Murray nearing return but preaching patience

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In his rookie season in the NHL, defenseman Ryan Murray showed poise with everything he did. After not being on the ice for over half a year, he underscored why the Blue Jackets selected him second overall in the 2012 draft by making the team out of training camp.

The 21-year-old defenseman goes about his business with a quiet efficiency. One week from the start of the regular season finds him rehabbing his knee. He's been skating during practice for the last few days with the team, participating in non-contact drills. He wants to play but knows that these things take time.

"I think it's past the point of frustration now," said Murray. "If you had asked me a few months ago, I would have said it's very frustrating. But now we're starting to see some results and starting to see improvement. I think it's encouraging."

The poise he showed last year as a rookie is carrying over to the way that he's dealing with the rehabilitation of his knee. Although he would like to be out on the ice with the guys, he understands and can see the "big picture" ramifications of not letting the knee get to 100 percent effectiveness.

"Yeah, absolutely, I think we have to look down the road," he said, "and not at what's right in front of us. It's starting to feel really good. But, we don't want to push it. We want to make sure that we take our time with it and make sure it's 100 percent. I don't want to get back for a month or two. I want to get back for the whole season and never have another problem with it.

"If I have to wait a little bit longer for that, then that's what we're going to do."

The progression of the healing process is gaining pace. Each day it gets better, and puts him one step closer to being able to contribute to the team. He said Wednesday that he feels the difference each day he's on the ice.

"It feels good," Murray said. "Even compared to last week, it feels way better. I wouldn't have any complaints with it right now. I was on the ice a couple of days ago for over an hour, I did some really hard skating, and never had any problems with it.

"I think that 'contact' is the next thing that we have to break into here. But, we just don't want any setbacks, especially at this time. Getting so close to being back, I don't want to have a setback that puts me back any longer. We're just going to be careful with it and take our time."

Although there has been no official timetable for his being able to resume contact drills, he knows that it's most likely very close.

"We haven't talked about it yet," he said. "I feel like we're going to go out there one day and they're going to say 'let's try some contact.' It's really up to them, but they haven't indicated anything, yet."

Along with getting his knee rehabbed, he has to get himself back up to game speed. As much as he would like to have this all happen at the same time and quickly, getting everything back to 100 percent with no reoccurrence is paramount.

"First of all," said Murray, "it's just one step at a time. Just getting back into shape is what I'm looking at now, getting my hands and feet back, getting my timing back. That will come in games. Getting into good game-like practices, simulating game-type of plays will be a big thing.

"I want to get on the ice as much as I can and get used to shooting the puck again. Even the simple things like passing it flat is a thing that you have to get back after being off for so long. Once I get into games, I want to make sure that I do what I can to contribute to the team in whatever role they give me."

His time off the ice this summer was different from his off-ice activities following his shoulder injury in late 2012. The rehab for his knee didn't allow him to put in all the work that he felt he needed to heading into his second year in the NHL.

"I think it was a little different," he said, "because my shoulder felt a little strange at the start of the season last year. But, I had so long to rehab and so long to get into game shape.

"Now, I'm starting to get into shape and I'm a little behind everybody. I think I'm kind of playing catch-up, whereas last year I weighed in at 215 pounds. I was a lot heavier and I worked out since February (2013). So, I had six months to work out before the season. I put a lot of time into that.

"This year is just frustrating because I haven't been able to do anything all summer. I couldn't do simple things like walk around the mall without it swelling up. I'd have to ice it every single day. But, it's encouraging now that we're starting to get results. I think in a few more weeks, I'll be ready to go."

The long-term health of this young defenseman is paramount in both his kind and the organization. He knows this and understands that he can't rush time itself, as much as he would like to. The way that he is dealing with this injury is just one more example of the poise and maturity for the young man.