On Saturday night, Dillon Dube was a frequent topic of conversation in the Calgary Flames locker room following their win over the Los Angeles Kings. In his ninth game of the season, he drew a penalty, set up a goal and scored the game-winner.

This time last year, he was toiling in the American Hockey League. A lot can change in a year.

In 2018-19, Dube was the talk of Flames training camp. Along with rookie Juuso Valimaki, Dube forced his way onto the NHL roster with superb play. Unfortunately, he primarily played a bottom six role, then suffered an injury and was demoted to the AHL by late November.

Dube’s camp wasn’t quite as impressive this season, but he’s built his game up very well in Stockton and looks like a more complete, confident player nine games into this recall.

Speaking prior to Calgary’s win over the Kings, Dube was upbeat about his season so far.

“I feel good, I feel confident,” said Dube. “I feel like the time in Stockton was good for me. I think it was the reverse of last year, just starting there then coming up around the same time I got sent down. So I think it gives me confidence, going down there and being able to play. Great staff down there, I got to know them so well last year that it’s really fun playing there.”

Recalled upon Sam Bennett’s injury in Arizona in mid-November, Dube was placed on the third line alongside Milan Lucic and Derek Ryan. While he had played with both players during the pre-season, the amount of chemistry they’ve shown in a short time together has been impressive (and given the Flames a reliable line during a chaotic time for the club).

“I think we play really good together,” said Dube. “I think that first game, you know we lost 6-0, but I thought we were pretty good in that game. We played well and then we carried it over. It’s easy playing with those guys. They’re direct, they play the right way, the make the right plays. So it’s easy to find the open areas because you know they’re going to work the puck, they’re going to break their team down, so it’s just playing the right way with those guys. It makes it a lot of fun.”

There are a lot of things out of Dube’s hands. He’s waiver exempt and one of the easier players – contractually-speaking – to send down to the AHL once Bennett and Austin Czarnik get healthy. But he’s doing his best to take advantage of this chance to show the Flames brass how much his game has improved.

“[I have to] play my game every night,” said Dube, regarding what he has to do to stick around Calgary for awhile. “Just keep improving and keep getting better each night because there’s obviously still room to grow. And the exciting thing about it is opportunity every night, so you’ve got to take advantage of it.”

If nothing else, Dube’s tenuous roster placement has allowed him to keep urgency in his game, even if he’s playing on the team’s hottest line.

“For me, it’s you’ve got to look at it like you can fall out of the lineup every single night. You’ve got to have a little fire in you every night and prove that you want to stay here.”