How Lightning's Mikhail Sergachev has battled back from serious injury

Back on the ice

Sergachev had to learn to trust his leg with each step, from putting on skates for the first time March 18 to skating in full gear for the first time. Skating with teammates helped him mimic their technique on the ice.

He often skated before Lightning practices and on off-days under the supervision of head athletic trainer Tom Mulligan and assistant athletic trainer Mike Poirier. Skating coach Barb Underhill came into town to work with Sergachev on his technique.

“He’s super dedicated and works on his game all the time,” Hedman said. “I’m not worried at all when it comes to him. Like I’ve said before, the sky’s the ceiling for that guy.”

Sergachev said getting social media support from fans really helped boost his morale, especially on the difficult days when he felt like he wasn’t progressing or felt discomfort.

“I think fans helped a lot with me getting through this stuff,” Sergachev said. “And whenever I would post something, I’d get like 700 comments and they were all positive. That was great honestly. All kinds of fans, Rangers fans. Even Toronto fans.

“Some of them were saying some funny stuff. Like the one fan sent me a screenshot of me on the ice, like with my leg bent on the ice, and he was like, ‘Hey, man, you can’t play with your leg like that.’ The support from everyone was huge. Honestly, I don’t think I would have gotten through it. I probably would have, but I would be in a different mental state right now.”

A postseason possibility

The deeper the Lightning get in the playoffs, the more likely it is that Sergachev can return. Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Monday that if the Lightning win a round or two in the playoffs, “who knows?”

“I don’t think anybody truly understands how hard it is when you have those four-to-six month injuries, especially when the body is feeling better than it actually is,” Cooper said. “And so, when you think you can do things you really can’t ... the mental fatigue that people go through, it can’t go understated.”

Sergachev said that potentially helping his team on another deep postseason run certainly serves as motivation.

“I do think about that,” Sergachev said. “That serves as motivation. There’s timetables by the doctors and by the surgeon who did the surgery. I’m doing my best to beat that, to maybe come back sooner than they say, but it’s very unpredictable, these things, because you have to build muscle and muscle doesn’t get built in a day.

“But obviously, I think to myself, I want to come back as soon as possible, but I can’t really talk about time. But we’ll see. If I feel good, I’ll play. If I don’t feel confident enough that I can help the team, obviously there is no need.

“The team’s doing good,” he added with a smile. “They don’t need me.”

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