"I've had a couple not my best years. I've just got to get back to my game and just keep working hard," he said in a CanesCast interview . "I want to come out strong at the beginning of the season and prove myself."

Victor Rask was brimming - at least, as much as the typically non-emotive Swede can conceivably brim - with excitement as he prepared for his fifth NHL season.

It was early September at PNC Arena. The occasion was the Carolina Hurricanes' annual Media Day, the unofficial beginning of a new season in which the media and players convene for on- and off-camera chats just a couple of weeks out from the start of training camp.

Had the knife just nicked the left-shooting Rask's right pinkie finger, surgery might not have been required. But, because his right ring finger - an important top-hand digit - was also cut, Rask had to go under the knife for surgery.

This, a frustrating development for someone who underwent shoulder surgery earlier in the calendar year.

"It definitely sucked," Rask said. "I had shoulder surgery at the end of last year and did rehab all summer. Then to do this sucked, but I've been through it now, and I'm ready to play."

While sidelined, Rask continued to skate and work out off-ice with Bill Burniston, the team's head of strength and conditioning. The on-ice aspect of rehab was challenging for a bit, since Rask couldn't hold a stick for a period of time following surgery.

"It was pretty boring not being able to hold a stick. It's good that I could at least skate," he said. "It was tough, but once I got to hold a stick and a puck, I felt way better."

Rask then re-incorporated a stick and puck in his on-ice work, and at Raleigh Center Ice on Tuesday, he participated in his first full team practice Raleigh Center Ice, another significant progress point in his return from injury.

All that's left is to play in his first game of the 2018-19 season.

"It's been pretty long, but it's healed up very good," Rask said. "I'm just excited to start playing again."

That will happen sooner rather than later, but a date hasn't been set.

"As soon as possible," Rask said.

"He got cleared, so that's a good sign. Now, we're just kind of figuring out the plan of when to get him in," head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We've got to be fair to him. I know he wants to play right away. We've got to make the right decision on that because he's been out so long. At some point, you've just got to throw him to the wolves."

Rask's return will certainly be a boost to the Canes, both in terms of their center depth and offensive contributors. As training camp opened in mid-September, Brind'Amour was already looking forward to getting the 25-year-old Swedish center back in the lineup, likening that inevitability to a quality roster addition via trade.

Fast forward 20 games over two months, and Rask's return is imminent and much-anticipated.

"Everything feels good with my hand," he said. "I feel pretty good. I haven't played a game yet, so we'll see after my first game, but right now I feel pretty good."

Where Rask fits in remains to be seen - he wasn't specifically involved in line rushes on Tuesday - but he figures to be a key piece down the middle for this team in the very near future.

"We'll manage his minutes a little bit, maybe, but I know from being in that situation before, usually the more you play, the better you play," Brind'Amour said. "He's a player we need to get going right away."