EDMONTON

Ales Hemsky doesn’t know if he has less than two weeks left as an Edmonton Oiler, or if he’ll be here to see the fruits of the rebuild.

His agent and the Oilers are talking contract, but with less than two weeks left until the NHL trade deadline and his expectations likely overshooting his present value, his future is still very much up in the air.

“We talked,” said Hemsky, who’s scheduled for unrestricted free agency this summer. “And I’m open to whatever happens (staying or going). I’ll see what kind of offers they will give me and we will take it from there.”

Hemsky, with seven points in his last seven games, believes he is finally returning to form after back-to-back shoulder surgeries.

“I’m feeling great now,” he said. “It’s been a struggle for a little while but I’m feeling way better, I feel like everything is behind me. It’s been good. I can’t complain about my health.”

He knows his play and his stock dropped because of the surgeries and subsequent recoveries, but that was then, he said, and this is now.

“Of course you want to be healthy, but there’s things you can’t control. I went through a couple of surgeries but it had to be done, there was no other way to do it. It’s fixed and I feel great. I’m only 28, I don’t feel old. It’s not time to retire yet.”

robert.tychkowski@sunmedia.ca

@SUN_TYCHKOWSKI