This offseason has looked a little different for Adam Fox than the previous four.
And it's not just because he married his Harvard sweetheart and women's lacrosse teammate, Tate Green, in July.
The Rangers' No. 1 defenseman wasn't 100 percent healthy at the start of the summer after aggravating a torn MCL in his right knee that he suffered last November during the first round of the playoffs.
But only the start of the offseason was affected.
While players typically have about three weeks off after the season ends, Fox was doing rehabilitation activities at the MSG Training Center in an effort to return to full fitness more quickly.
Once that was done, Fox said everything felt normal and then he focused on his usual plan: getting stronger and faster.
It was all new for the 26-year-old Fox, who hadn't experienced a significant injury until his fifth year in the NHL.
“The funny thing is, I missed 10 games, but with sitting on the bench and stuff, it feels like I missed 30,” Fox told The Post on Tuesday ahead of the Rangers-Islanders friendly at Madison Square Garden.
It was the Rangers' second game but the first for the Jericho, New York, native.
“When you get injured, you might hesitate when you come back. I think that's a normal reaction. But overall, I think this year has been good. Obviously, that's in the past and I feel healthy now. I'm not really worried about those things anymore.”
After Fox was placed on the long-term injured list for 10 games following a knee collision with Hurricanes centre Sebastian Aho on Nov. 4, the star defenceman spoke candidly about struggling to get his game feel back.
Just as Fox was beginning to find his stride heading into the postseason, he aggravated the same knee injury in an eerily similar cross-legged collision with Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen in Game 4 of the first round.
Fox hadn't been on the ice for a while leading up to the series against Carolina, but he wasn't his usual self for the remainder of the playoffs.
Despite being plagued by injuries at times, Fox finished fourth in voting for the Norris Trophy, given to the best defensive player last season.
This experience was less about learning and more about understanding what happened and what could potentially happen in the playoffs.
“I thought he's done a good job,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of Fox's handling of the injury. “Injuries are tough. You play, you're out for a while. I'm not talking about Adam, but a lot of times when you come off an injury and you get better and you get healthy, you still have residual effects of probably what's going on. … Just because someone comes back doesn't mean they're 100 percent good.”
“I think he's moving really well here. I really saw that in the scrimmage the other day. I noticed him in the skating tests and the scrimmages, he's active, he's charging forward, he's moving really well. Hopefully, it's kind of in the rearview mirror and he looks good.”
