The Blackhawks placed the 32-year-old forward on injured reserved back on Oct. 27 due to an ankle injury. Before his injury, he produced six points (2G, 4A) through six games played this season.
Head coach Luke Richardson believes that Johnson could return as early as tomorrow's game against the Washington Capitals depending on how he feels following the team's morning skate. He hopes this will show if Johnson feels ready for game action without having any setbacks.
"We just want to make sure he can get through another day of practice today and have no setbacks," Richardson said. "So tomorrow morning we'll make that decision, but it looks like he's on the upward mend and should be ready to go."
Johnson mentioned the frustration he felt after facing some minor setbacks during his injury rehab setting his return date further. After rejoining the team in practices a few weeks ago, he felt that last week was his best week yet.
With an ankle injury, he never knew how long it would take to recover until he went through it.
"It's one of those things guys that had it while playing hockey, they always said it's one of the worst injuries to have and I never really understood that until I had it," Johnson said. "It is really annoying because some days you just don't really know and it kind of just kind of just lingers a little bit."
In the last week, Johnson's focused on preparing his body for more contact since returning on the ice. With the quick movements and adjusting with his feet and ankles have caused some challenges, he believes that last week's practices have helped him progressed to where he needs to be.
With having Johnson back, Richardson stated that his return will give the team options within their top-six forwards. He feels comfortable putting the veteran forward in any offensive situation knowing that he can make smart play in any of those given situations.
"I think he's going to help on the power play, he's going to help out just with some veteran leadership and winning experience," Richardson said. "[He can] settle things down when things get a little bit rocky and just another guy in that role helps."
