As their rocky road trip starts to wind down, the Bruins welcomed a familiar face to the practice at the Honda Center in Anaheim on Tuesday.

Charlie McAvoy, who has not played since suffering a shoulder injury and subsequent infection while playing for Team USA in the Four Nations Faceoff in February, was still wearing a non-contact jersey as he rejoined the team for the first time in a practice session. There is still no timetable for him to return and, with just 10 games left in the season, it’s debatable whether he’ll get back in the lineup before the end of the season.

McAvoy hasn’t played since his great game in Montreal when the US beat Canada and he has been through the wringer on a number of fronts, both physically and emotionally. He was robbed of a chance to play for the US when the Four Nations shifted to Boston when the shoulder injury, which is keeping him out of the lineup to this day, became infected and he had to be rushed to Mass. General Hospital.

Then after the international tournament, as he sat by helplessly as the Bruins struggle toward the trade deadline, he witnessed the stunning major sell-off of the team with the trading of captain Brad Marchand, Brandon Caro, Charlie Coyle, Trent Fredric and Justin Brazeau.

“It was not fun. It was a really tough day on a lot of different fronts. I know I haven’t talked to you guys in a while, but it’s another one of those things where it’s over now. I’ve sat in a lot of stuff for the last month or so and I’ve just tried hard to move ahead on all those fronts, really,” McAvoy told reporters in Anaheim, the first time he’s spoken publicly since suffering the injury. “It was hard. There’s another aspect to this game that has nothing to do with on the ice and that’s the friendships of it and the relationships. And the reality is that I’ve been here a while now and I’ve seen a lot of my friends no longer here and I understand there’s a business part of it. I do. I get it. But it doesn’t make it easier to see a lot of your best buddies now be in other spots… Like I said, I understand the business part of it and it’s a problem that everyone goes through so it’s not just me. But it stings. It does. All those guys, you wish nothing but the best for them. They’re very easy to cheer for, every one of them, every guy that we lost.”

As for the injury and the infection, it had been reported that the Bruins weren’t thrilled with the care that he got while with Team USA, which used the Minnesota Wild medical staff. McAvoy didn’t address that aspect of it.

But he said it was a harrowing experience.

“Yeah, it wasn’t good. It was bad,” said McAvoy. “It was when I got home (from Montreal) that things sort of hit the fan on Monday and that landed me in the hospital and things moved pretty fast after that. The infection was moving pretty fast after that. It got very serious very quick. Another thing I’m trying to leave in the past. It was scary. It was scary on me, it was scary on my family, mostly. I could not be more grateful for all the people at MGH and all the people that took such amazing care of me in the time when I really needed it. Those people are the heroes of this story. They mean the world to me and I’m truly grateful for how I was taken care of there.”

As for the Four Nations tournament, he called it, “the most fun I’ve ever had in hockey. There’s nothing to compare it to. Just the talent, the speed, the skill, just the competitiveness.”

“It broke my heart, it really did, that I didn’t get a chance to be a part of it in Boston. But they played so well and I was so proud of them.”

McAvoy did have an incredibly emotional moment when, after being released from the hospital on the day of the US-Canada final at the Garden, he was asked to read off the lineup before the game.

“Had a lot going on mentally, physically and emotionally,” said McAvoy. “I wanted to do it and I honestly couldn’t tell you what happened. I just broke down. I think it was a perfect storm of everything and I just lost it.”

Now McAvoy is trying to move on, in a much different Bruin reality than the last time he put on a black and gold jersey.

“I think I’m just happy to be here. I’m happy to be with the guys, to see guys, to be seen,” said McAvoy. “I wish a lot things would have been different coming down the stretch here. It hasn’t been the easiest, but this sort of feels like a bit of an opening to put a close to that and I’m out here with the guys now and that’s nice. We’ll put the past in the past and we’ll pick up right here.” …

Nikita Zadorov wanted to clarify his much-dissected “No comment” when he was asked if he appreciated Jeremy Swayman trying to fight Kings’ goalie Darcy Kuemper after Kuemper had jumped on Marat Khusnutdinov in Sunday’s 7-2 loss. While many have speculated he wasn’t a fan of Swayman trying to jump into the fray, Zadorov said it was more about the frustration and emotion after such a loss.

“Whatever I said, it wasn’t towards Sway. I didn’t expect the question and sometimes you’ve got to understand the situation. You’re pissed off after the game and I was just basically … I was just trying to find positives after the game, there was a lot of negatives to our game,” said Zadorov.

“Obviously, we appreciate in this room guys stepping in for each other and that’s the culture that was here before I came here and I’m trying to follow it as the guy who steps in for teammates … Everybody in this room, as long as I’m here, we’re going to stand up for each other. So I think I wasn’t even thinking of a comment towards Sway or anything…Obviously, he’s a huge part of our team. He’s signed for the next eight years, I’m here for the next five years. We’re going to be together for a long time and we’re going to have a lot of success for this team and back in playoff hockey and hopefully win the Cup when I’m here.”