The Capitals winger had to make some changes to his Bauer Mach skates after tearing his right Achilles tendon twice in a span of five months.

ARLINGTON, V.A. — Max Pacioretty's skates that hang above his stall at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, don't look out of the ordinary, but inside the boot, there's a lot going on in order to accommodate for his altered right foot following back-to-back Achilles tears.

Pacioretty's injury last August, along with his re-injury just five months later, has significantly altered the size of his right foot. As a result, there's a lot that went into simply fitting into his boot in the first place.

"You want to try and be as symmetrical as possible, and outside of my skate, my feet, they don't have any symmetry at all," Pacioretty explained.

The 35-year-old wears Bauer Supreme Mach skates, as he's been a noted Supreme wearer over the course of his career. However, the right foot is now a different size than the left foot. He also has a number of lifts inserted into the right boot in order to get his feet parallel and symmetrical and allow for a better stride.

The Mach skate, which he switched to last season in his return from his first tear with the Carolina Hurricanes, consists of "12K Carbon Curv composite material," which makes the boot studied, and it also features an "Active Motion Performance (AMP)" forward flex at the top of the skate and "powercoil" technology in the tongue that allows for quicker reactions and adds pop to players' strides.

Making internal adjustments to skates is nothing new in the league, with several players having different sized skates or having inserts in the toe cap. However, Pacioretty admits that his changes are "probably a little bit more drastic" than the typical player.

"Given what my right foot has been through for the past year," he said matter-of-factly.

Still, he noted that there may be more modifications coming as he looks for the right balance.

"It took a while to get my skates right, and they still don't feel perfect. I'll keep working at it, but they feel better for sure," Pacioretty said.

Ultimately, Pacioretty said that time and reps have made things easier for him, and that he continues to feel improvement with each skate. He got his first point with the Capitals back on Sunday, a secondary assist off a highlight-reel turnover while skating on the line with Dylan Strome and Alex Ovechkin.

While bedridden following the re-tear, part of Pacioretty was considering putting an end to his career, but decided to keep going with his family inspiring him. Modifying his skates has been just one small part of that journey.

"There was a good solid, two, three months where I was ready to stop playing," he admitted. "I spent a good portion of the last year in bed, not being able to do things with my family and kids... that was really difficult," Pacioretty said earlier in the year.

"I don't want to ever say that I gave up on something that I could have continued doing," he added. "It's important for me to do this for myself, but also for my family and my kids to kind of show them that we can get through this together."

When it comes down to it, he said that he no longer feels fear with regard to his Achilles and that he is 100 percent physically healthy. Now, it's just a matter of overcoming the mental obstacle, and he compared the process to "riding a bike." It's all a process, and eventually, it'll be second nature once again.

"It's only mental. I'm physically in a good place right now. You can kind of tell in the gym and have that translate to the ice, so I'm definitely strong right now. My skating's there; it's just a matter of timing and being able to make that extra play," Pacioretty said. "As you said, that's all mental and that will come over time."

"So, no fear?" I asked.

"No fear at all," he smiled.