SAN JOSE – Sharks center/forward Tomas Hertl has taken another step in his recovery from a right knee sprain and subsequent surgery.
The 23-year-old is now doing contract drills, and called himself "almost day-to-day now" on Saturday.
"Last two days I'm working on battles, and I feel pretty good," Hertl said. "Everything is going right. Hopefully coming closer and closer to playing. … Just [need to be] more comfortable with battling, because skating and everything, I feel like 100 percent."
Hertl didn't completely shoot down a suggestion that he could play before the All-Star break, which begins on Friday, but indicated it's more likely to be sometime after that. The Sharks resume their schedule on Jan. 31 against Chicago after next weekend's breather.
"We want [to take] a little bit of time, more battles, a little bit more workouts," Hertl said. "But, I think I'm pretty close. We'll see how it goes the next couple days."
The timeline has been fluid with Hertl, who was originally expected to miss "weeks" rather than months, general manager Doug Wilson said shortly after the injury on Nov. 17. On Jan. 5, a source with knowledge of Hertl's status told CSN he was unlikely to play before mid-February, but it now appears he'll be back sooner than that.
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"Looks great," coach Pete DeBoer said of Hertl. "I don't know if that's a testament to our group or his progress, but he looked fantastic out there. He's getting very close. We're starting to talk about him on a daily basis, which is a good sign."
Hertl suffered his knee injury during a game with St. Louis on Nov. 17 after what looked like a fairly innocent collision with the Blues' Jori Lehtera, and underwent what Wilson termed a "minor procedure" on Nov. 22 designed to prevent further knee injuries from occurring. It was at least the third known procedure that Hertl has undergone on his right knee.
In 17 games, Hertl has nine points (4g, 5a).
