You think you’ve been waiting a long time for Detroit Red Wings season to return?

Evgeny Svechnikov would beg to differ.

He endured the longest year of his pro hockey career last season. The 6-foot-3, 212-pound winger, Detroit’s top pick during the 2015 NHL entry draft, missed the entire 2018-19 campaign due to a torn ACL.

Svechnikov was to his first game action in a year when the Wings opened the NHL preseason on Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“It just brings a lot of stuff in my head and what I went through,” said Svechnikov told Mlive.com. He was slated to skate on a line with Taro Hirose and Michael Rasmussen.

“This is it. This is the day. I was counting for this day all year. I’m super excited, super pumped, also tired but that’s really nothing that matters now. The camp was real tough but it’s all behind and now. It’s fun time to go.”

Throughout his ordeal, Svechnikov sought the counsel of teammates who’d been down the road before. That support group included Grand Rapids (AHL) teammate Matt Lorito and ex-Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall.

“Lorito said it takes a while,” Svechnikov noted.. “He said he’s just feeling good after 16, 17 months. He’s just feeling normal. Kronner said he was playing after six months.

“So it’s everybody different but we’ll see how I feel.”

Admittedly, Svechnikov isn’t all the way back from his injury.

“I feel pretty tough out there to be honest with you,” Svechnikov said. “It’s not easy. It’s a little bit, I wouldn’t say not in shape but I can feel that I was not on the ice for all season.

“It’s kind of double work for me I feel. It’s conditioning-wise and just feeling the game again. I feel it’s gonna take a little bit of time but it’s coming. Every day it’s better and better and it feels like it’s gonna be getting better. I’m looking forward to it feeling better.”

Wings coach Jeff Blashill figures that everyone will have to accept that the player Svechnikov once was may not be the same player that he’ll be going forward from this point.

“I think it’s a long time to be out and super hard,” Blashill said. “So no real high expectations. Let him go out and feel his way into this thing.

“It’s super hard. Your body, No. 1; and two, you’ve got to get used to how your leg feels. It’ll be different. It’s never going to be the same. Anyone who’s had any kind of injury knows it’s never the same. That becomes your new normal but it takes time to become your new normal.

“It’s hard at the beginning of any year to have all your habits ingrained and be able to play without thinking, but it’s really hard for a guy who’s missed tons of time to play without thinking. That’s the way you have to play to be faster. So it’ll be a marathon, not a sprint.”

Svechnikov accepts that there’s nothing he can about the past. This is his lot in life now, and he must make the most of it.

“I don’t feel myself out there yet,” Svechnikov said. “Not even close. But stuff, it’s not easy. You just have to go through it and push myself.”

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