IRVINE — Ducks forward Max Jones was one committed lobbyist in training camp.

“He’s already grabbed me numerous times –  asking, begging, prodding – to get in the lineup as fast as possible,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins was saying on Saturday at Great Park Ice.

Jones’s powers of persuasion worked. More than 11 months after suffering a torn chest muscle – in the Ducks’ third game of last season, at Calgary  – Jones will be playing in a game again, set to take the ice Sunday afternoon in a preseason contest against the Arizona Coyotes in Tucson, Ariz.

It will be a young and largely untested roster for the Ducks, including two first-round draft choices in 2022: defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and forward Nathan Gaucher, and second-rounders, defensemen Noah Warren and Tristian Luneau.

“I really love watching our young draft picks,” Eakins said. “It’s usually a game where you’ve got younger guys in there. It’s their first game. They’re excited. It’s awesome.

“It’s a good game for us coaches because we haven’t been standing behind a bench in a long time. You start getting back on the bicycle and start pedaling a little bit. Is there a massive evaluation on our NHL guys? There’s a little bit. But it’s more focused on our young guys and how they’re doing with an uptick in pace.”

The players with the most NHL experience in the lineup happened to be two in camp on a PTO – defenseman Nathan Beaulieu (419 games) and right wing Rocco Grimaldi (203). Anaheim’s goalies on the roster for the preseason game are Lukas Dostal and Olle Eriksson Ek.

Jones, 24, has appeared in 137 NHL games, all with the Ducks. The tension associated with his long injury layoff and rehabilitation lifted when he drove to the rink on Thursday for the opening of camp.

“It was the best day,” Jones said. “Day 1 of camp was great. I remember waking up that morning. All the stress I had leading up – the whole time being injured and coming into camp – was gone. I didn’t feel any anxiety or stress or anything: ‘Wow, it’s here and I’m back.’ And I get to play and compete.

“I just remember driving with the windows down that morning and coming to the rink. It was a great day.

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“You’ve got to love everything you do. I learned to see the positives of getting hurt. The one thing was to never take your time at the rink for granted. Every day is a good day no matter how you feel.

“I may be sore. I may be tired. But it sure as hell is a lot better than sitting at home.”

Jones said his girlfriend, family, and teammates helped him get through the tough times.

“It was not easy,” he said. “I’ve never had something like that before. Mental strength and mental illness is a real thing. It’s very real. I struggled with it. I did.

“The guys asked if I could go on a trip with them at the end of the (season).  I love these guys. These guys are my best friends. I would do anything for these guys. They cared for me last year and I’ll go through a brick wall for any one of these guys in the room.”

Now Jones can reach back and call upon that mental strength when he faces the next hurdles.

“This is going to be an interesting time for him being out that long,” Eakins said. “But he’s clearly focused, excited, and extremely fit. He looks very ready to go.

“A lot of times when you’re in the adversity, it (stinks). It’s not fun. But when you get on the other side of it, I’m quite glad that it was hard for him. The adversity was a huge challenge because now he’s calloused his brain a little bit. So whatever next bit of adversity – and it will come in whatever form – he’ll already have better tools to deal with it.”