MONTREAL - Max Pacioretty may be able to return from his neck injury in time for the NHL payoffs, Montreal Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said Thursday.
Team doctors informed the coach that Pacioretty will be able to resume training, with contact, in three to five weeks.
He is to take complete rest until March 26 and then begin rehab.
"It looked for a moment that his career was in danger so it's good news that he'll be able to get back to practice," said Martin.
Pacioretty suffered a severe concussion and a non-displaced fracture of the fourth vertebra in his neck when he slammed his head into a stanchion at the Bell Centre after a hit from Boston's Zdeno Chara on March 8.
Martin said the fact that there was no displacement and that the vertebra was stable was key in getting the 22-year-old winger back sooner than expected.
The incident stirred a controversy when the NHL opted not to suspend Chara.
It also helped spur the league to change how concussions are treated when they occur.
