After a mentally and physically challenging summer, Viktor Arvidsson is looking to the bright side in camp

A big day, Kings fans!

As noted this morning, Viktor Arvidsson moved into the full group today for the first time during training camp, as he continues to work his way back from offseason back surgery. Joining him for his second day with Group A was Sean Durzi, who is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. For that reason, these two players are linked, though it would be unfair to compare their timelines in any way.

While Durzi played in the playoffs against Edmonton, Arvidsson missed the postseason completely with a back injury. While it not the first flare up of this particular injury, this was certainly the first time he’s had an injury that has completely altered his summer, both from a personal level and a professional level.

“Nothing like this, during my last year in Nashville I had the same thing happen and I was gone for two weeks but I played that year’s playoffs,” Arvidsson said. “So this was the first time that happened this seriously.”

That season in Nashville was the 2020-21 campaign, where Arvidsson was injured towards the end of the season, which limited him to just two postseason contests as the Predators were eliminated in the first round.

This past season, however, was a different story. The injury, which saw Arvidsson leave the ice during the first practice of the postseason, was that much more serious. It caused him to miss the entire seven-game series versus the Oilers, with an announcement of surgery coming shortly thereafer. Similar to Drew Doughty, who said it was “killing him” not to be out there with his teammates, Arvidsson was also a contributor all season and a huge part of the Kings reaching the playoffs. Not being out there was something he called the hardest part of his job last May.

“It was the toughest part of our jobs, I think, to play all those games and then when it matters, you can’t contribute with the guys on the team,” he said. “It was really tough, me and Drew sat on the side, dreading ourselves [for not being in there], but it happens and we had to deal with it.”

From that point on, it was all systems forward for Arvidsson, but that’s not to say it came without its share of setbacks.

Being a back injury, Arvidsson’s recovery process wasn’t as simple as injuries in other areas of his body might have been. Not only did the injury completely throw off his offseason training schedule – which is certainly did – but it also made living his life with his family difficult. As a father of a young daughter, Arvidsson wasn’t able to spend time with his family in the way that he would have normally. That took its toll.

“It was tough, especially for my family and for me, mentally it was really tough,” Arvidsson said. “I couldn’t be with my daughter, play with her, that was the toughest part about everything I think. Coming back here, I hadn’t skated, so I started to skate and felt fine and I started to look to the brighter side. I feel confident and we’ll just take it day by day now, see if I can get out of the red jersey.”

While the mental side of the injury was challenging, that’s not to say there weren’t physical setbacks as well for the 29-year-old forward.

Arvidsson’s injury completely changed his offseason training routine, to the point where what he did in a regular summer was unrecognizable from what he did over the last few months. While he’s overcome injuries in the past, the process heading into the 2022-23 campaign vastly differed from anything he had done in the past. And that was very difficult to work through.

“It was completely different from what I’m used to,” Arvidsson added. “It was a lot of just focusing on what I had to do to be ready and stuff and not a lot of family activities. It was tough at that point, but I was making sacrifices and I’m here now and I feel really good about myself.”

Arvidsson expressed excitement at getting back into things with his teammates today, something that made him feel at home once again. After a summer of things that were different, today thankfully provided a few things that were more familiar.

To his left was Phillip Danault at center and Trevor Moore on the left wing, the first on-ice reunion for a line that played so well together a season ago. Also familiar was a new face for LA Kings fans but an old face for Arvidsson, in Kevin Fiala. The two were teammates in the minor leagues with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals, as well with the Nashville Predators when both players graduated to the NHL.

Arvidsson was thrilled to see that the Kings had acquired Fiala in the offseason, noting the on-ice impact he has on games and the example he sets for his younger teammates. Both things to look out for heading into an exciting start to the season.

“It’s fun, we go way back, we were roommates in Milwaukee,” Arvidsson said of his new, old teammate. “He’s a great guy, a great player. I think a lot of younger guys can learn from him, his skill set and how he wants to get better every day. He’s great, I really, really enjoy having him here.”

Regarding a desired date to return to being a great player himself, it’s too soon to put any sort of timetable on a potential return to action.

Today was the first day back for Arvidsson with the main group, after individual sessions during the first week of camp. Due to his injury, Arvidsson’s skating over the summer was substantially reduced, resulting in a steeper curve back to action come training camp. With that in mind, it’s a bit early to make any sort of decision with regards to Opening Night on October 11, or even to put a date down on the calendar as a potential time to return.

“I don’t know yet, it’s day by day,” Arvidsson said of the process. “We’re just trying to get me back with the players again and we’ll see how it goes.”

Should Arvidsson not be ready for Opening Night, however, he expressed a lot of confidence in the development of Gabe Vilardi, who has skated in that spot at points during training camp, while also acknowledging the growth of other younger players as well.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said, when asked if he’s seen growth in the players looking to fill his spot when injured. “I didn’t see the games in Ontario the other day, but I feel like Gabe has taken a step with his skating and with his control of the puck. Especially offensively, he’s dangerous when he has the puck and he’s creative. Same with Q and Arthur, others too, they made steps the last year and hopefully they continue to grow.”

At the end of the day though, that’s not within Arvidsson’s control.

As we saw last season, Arvidsson is on hand to support his teammates when not in the lineup, even when he’d rather be playing. For now, his focus is on working his way back into game shape for an eventual return to the lineup, while focusing on the fun of being back in the mix along the way.

“It was a lot of fun [to skate with the full group today]. Just good to be back.”

Tomorrow, we’ll take a similar look into Sean Durzi’s recovery from offseason shoulder surgery, as the second-year defenseman returns to the full group on a full-contact basis.