“Yeah, I think he’s definitely taking huge steps. I think if you can look at probably going back seven or eight games now, I think he’s taken huge jumps. He’s one of those guys that he came in and he produced right away but I don’t think his game as a whole is necessarily probably to the level it needed to be to be a full-time guy yet. So I think the work away from the puck, like continuing to move his feet, continuing to check, continuing to try to work just as hard to get the puck back as you as you do once you get the puck, it was a big part of the learning curve for him. And now you see he’s working. He’s playing a 200 foot game. He’s working just as hard in one direction to get the puck so he can spend more time going the other direction. That’s been the biggest change: when you don’t have the puck less time watching, more time working. I think he’s definitely started to grab a hold of it this last trip.”

“I thought Aydar had a slow start to the year. I think it was an adjustment for him and I think he had probably a 10 game stretch where I thought he really found his game. He was starting to score some goals. I thought he was starting to check really well. He was starting to do good things away from the puck, which was, that was one of the areas that he really had to focus on. I think you could start to see once he started doing those things and the confidence with the puck came in. So now he’s kind of, he’s one of those guys that maybe there’s been a little bit of a bump in the road. He hasn’t scored a five on five or an even strength goal or assist I think for almost a month now. So I know that’s one of those things that’s going to eat away at him. So for him it’s just about trying not to focus as much on about getting those points. Like continue to focus on your details, because when those details are in a good place that’s when their offence came and then as soon as your details start slipping, usually the offence starts slipping. So it’s just one of those things that it’s a cycle. It’s one of those things you kind of just have to keep talking about and keep mentioning. And then eventually it sticks and it sticks with them forever.”

“No, not necessarily. I think Clark is one of those guys that is a really good leader. I think Bash is one of those guys that we’ve talked a lot to about playing structure and playing to a certain identity and how we want to work and compete and playing from harder areas. And I think playing on a guy with Bish who does that night in and night out is a really good teacher for him. So, you know, he’s someone who’s easy to talk to, he communicates, he can push his teammates, but he does it in a way that’s not intimidating or hard for a young player to realize and accept. So, just it’s been a good fit and I think, you know, that we’ve had so many guys going up and down and injuries and everything else already and waivers and everything already in this young season, that guys have had to play all over and play different positions and I’m sure that won’t change anytime soon.”

“Yeah, no limitations. He’s been healthy so far. I think kind of similar to Aydar, I think he’s had some really good moments and some he’s had some bump in the roads too. So, again, just to go finding that consistency, finding ways when you’re not scoring and you’re maybe not getting those points like you did in junior, like you want to, but you’re still finding ways to contribute to the team game and doing that on a nightly and daily basis and that’s just something he’s going to continue to learn and grow.”

“Yeah, you know, he’s one of those guys that he’s an offensive guy and if you’re gonna try to get minutes for there’s [Brzustewicz] and Poirier then you got [Miromanov] coming, like there’s only so many of those offensive minutes to go around and it’s not right to put him in a checking role and in a way that he’s not really ready for. Like that’s part of his game that needs the most work is the defending and he’s really got to keep working on his feet and his gaps and closing quickly and those areas so it’s just one of those things where it’s gonna take time. He’s had a great attitude about it. He’s continued to work. He’s had a good start now that he’s been down in Rapid and you know, the message to him is just every day in practice, treat it like a game. Like every day, we want you to push to close those gaps as quick as you can in practice and if you get beat wide then that’s okay. We can live with that just as long as you’re pushing yourself, continue to get better every day, then that’s been the message.”

“Yeah, you know Kinger’s been just kind of a Swiss Army knife for us. He’s played some power play, he’s played some penalty kill, he’s played some on the wing, he’s played some at centre. So he’s kind of one of those guys you can plug and play in a lot of places and I think the thing I like about his game is he’s really reliable, he just plays a really safe and sound game. So as a coach he’s one of those guys that you can trust in different situations. So you know there’s going to be more opportunity down the road for him and he’s just got to continue to grow his game and continue to push that pace to where he can play at a high level at the pace and speed of a pro game. He’s a smart kid. I think he realizes and understands that. He’s always one of those guys when you’re sitting in a meeting with them he understands and he asks questions, the right questions, and he’ll continue to grow and gain more opportunity for here.”

“You know, Frky, he’s just a natural goal scorer, right? Like he works on it every day in practice. He loves scoring goals. He gets to a game. Obviously he’s got the shot, but he’s got the patience. He’s got the creativity. He’s got everything to go with it. And this year he’s got some good players to play with him. So, he’s still got that internal drive. He’s still, you know, he’s a specimen off the ice. He’s there, first one in the gym every morning. And you know what, I know what he’s capable of, like I played with him before and he led the league in goals when I played with him. So I’ve seen him do it before and we know what he’s capable of and you could see last year there was times when he just would take over. So he’s had a good start, as a few other forwards have for sure offensively, and now we just need some of those other role players and bottom nine players to kind of pick up the slack and get a little more balanced scoring for us here.”