Perfetti happy to be back practicing with Jets after injury

WINNIPEG -He may have been wearing a non-contact jersey, but that didn't bother Cole Perfetti one bit.
He was just happy to be back on the ice with his teammates for a full practice.
"Being eight weeks off the ice or whatever it was, it was pretty hard. It felt like it was eight months," said Perfetti after Tuesday's session. "Being with the guys now today, getting my first skate with the team, it was a lot of fun just being back out there and doing what you love."
The 20-year-old Perfetti hasn't played since February 17 against the Seattle Kraken, when a hit from Jamie Oleksiak injured the 10th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
What started as a shoulder injury morphed into something more.
"It was just an older thing that kind of re-occurred while rehabbing my shoulder," Perfetti said.

These days, the only soreness he's feeling is in his lungs after practices like Tuesday's.
"That was to be expected," said Perfetti, who tried to stay in peak condition through cardio in the gym.
"It'll take a couple days, a couple weeks maybe, and then it should be back to normal but it's been tough."
Perfetti's first NHL season will show he had two goals and seven points in 18 games. His first NHL goal came on the road against the Washington Capitals, and his second came at Canada Life Centre against the Minnesota Wild - part of a two-point night and his first multi-point effort in the league.
He would've loved to get more games in, especially as he got more and more comfortable playing with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor.
"We started to put up some numbers and find a groove offensively," said Perfetti. "I kind of just proved to myself that I can play with guys of that caliber and can make plays with them. Obviously there's lots to work on, tons of room for improvement, and everyone's like that, especially me as a young guy coming up."
That's precisely the attitude interim head coach Dave Lowry likes to see from the young forward.
Lowry primarily kept Perfetti on the wing in his first NHL season, but isn't ruling out centre being an option.
"Let's remember one thing. Centre is a hard position to play in the National Hockey League," said Lowry. "Especially for a lot of young guys. Sometimes it's better to learn the game on the wing. The responsibility is not quite the same in the D zone."

Rules within the collective bargaining agreement will prevent Perfetti, even when healthy, from joining the Manitoba Moose for the Calder Cup Playoffs. While he admits it's a frustrating part of the business, he'll be cheering on his friends as they try to go on a run.
"They've got a heck of a team and it sucks you can't join them and help try to win," Perfetti said. "But at the same time they're going to do great on their own."
The summer ahead for Perfetti is an important one. He's had the taste of NHL action and knows what he needs to work on to put himself in the best position to succeed. As for the World Junior Hockey Championship coming in August (a replay of the postponed event in January), Perfetti's 2002 birth year makes him eligible to participate.
"I'm going to be in talks with my agent and be in talks with Chevy and all the people, all the staff. I have no doubt they're going to do what's best for me and what's right," said Perfetti. "If they think going to the tournament's best, then I'll do it. If not, then it'll be a couple extra weeks in the gym and getting stronger. Either way, I'm going to be excited for whatever happens."
There is also one more event on Perfetti's calendar. He and Dylan Samberg will join some lucky fans for Fishin' with the Jets, a three-day fishing trip in northeastern Manitoba.
He's no stranger to fishing, saying that cottage country is about an hour from where he spends his summers in Ontario.
"We go fishing all the time there. Nothing like this," he said. "I'm really excited. This is going to be a lot of fun."