Bayreuther excited to be back in the place that made him famous

Gavin Bayreuther has heard the jokes.
"Seattle Kraken legend Gavin Bayreuther" is what some on Twitter have taken to calling the Blue Jackets defenseman.
"Do you think they'll do a tribute video for you?" Jake Bean joked to Bayreuther on Friday.

And at the end of the day, he's fine with it. Bayreuther first of all has a sense of humor, which is good, but he also understands how being chosen by the Seattle Kraken in this summer's expansion draft has made him a bit of a cult hero among CBJ fans and fans of hockey trivia alike.
"It's all fun and games," he said Friday at Climate Pledge Arena, which could have been his home in a different life. "I mean, everyone understands the situation and the story behind it, so it's something you can joke about for sure. This is a cool facility, a cool place to play, but I'm happy where I am."
In fact, it would be hard to argue with how things worked out for Bayreuther, who has worked his way onto the Blue Jackets roster this season, playing 14 games so far with four assists. It hasn't necessarily been an easy road, but it has worked out in many ways like he hoped it would when he chose to re-sign with Columbus as a free agent rather than work out a deal with the Kraken, who he felt viewed him as an AHL player despite selecting him this summer.
Still, he knew he faced an uphill battle to make the Blue Jackets roster out of training camp, but he came to Columbus in September determined to change the coaches' minds.
"On pencil, I'm probably already sent down, but I want to change that," he said during an interview session during training camp.
The next day, it was in marker. Bayreuther showed up to practice and found out nine defensemen would remain with the team's NHL group, while he was skating with the AHL group.
"The next day," he said. "It was awful, yeah."
While he wouldn't officially be sent through waivers to Cleveland until a few days later, Bayreuther's initial intuition was right. While the opportunity he saw with the Blue Jackets was the main reason he returned to the organization rather than stay with the Kraken, the news he got early in camp signaled he was essentially the team's 10th defenseman going into the season.
It also meant he'd be starting the season with the Monsters back in the AHL, where Bayreuther largely had toiled since turning pro in the spring of 2017 after four years at St. Lawrence University. But rather than mope, he simply put his head down and played, notching three assists and a plus-4 rating in five games in Cleveland.
And suddenly, the 27-year-old was moving up the ranks. Mikko Lehtonen refused to report to Cleveland, freeing up one spot, then Dean Kukan was injured at the NHL level, leading to Bayreuther's return to Columbus.
Finally, when head coach Brad Larsen wanted to see Bayreuther in action, he was in for the Nov. 3 game at Colorado. From there, Bayreuther played all 12 games in November, as his solid play on the third pairing was enough to show that his persistence and improvement paid off.
"Right from camp, guys had to fight for spots, and we had some things shift," head coach Brad Larsen said. "We had a defenseman leave, and it's funny how it works out. It's all about your attitude and how you take the information. You don't have to be happy with the demotion or being where you're at, but how you handle it is going to be the biggest part.
"He went down, he worked at his game. He was the best defenseman (in Cleveland), he came up, he waited his turn, got in an seized the moment. That's what it is -- preparation meets opportunity. If you prepare properly, you have a better chance to succeed when you go in. He's done that."
That's the kind of approach Bayreuther knew he'd have to take to make it back to where he wanted to be, something he's learned through his first five years of pro hockey.
"When I got sent down, I didn't change my attitude," Bayreuther said. "I still felt like I belonged here. I just had to go prove it down there, and now I'm here. As I've gotten older, confidence has helped me. I've seen it all. I've seen players start here and get sent down; I've seen players start below and get called up. I just tried to stay positive and knew that it would work out in the end if I worked hard and played well."
That kind of attitude has caught the attention of such CBJ standouts as Zach Werenski, the alternate captain who said he admires how Bayreuther has been able to carve out a role for himself.
"You respect every player that plays in this league, but the guys that have gone through it and really worked for it and earned it, it's fun to see," Werenski said. "You are happy for him to come in and play like he has. He probably wasn't thinking he'd be here when the season started, and now he's come in and solidified himself. How do you take a guy like that out right now? It's been good for him."
The key to his game to this point is keeping it simple, and it's worked. He had played just 28 NHL games in his career before this year -- 19 with Dallas in 2018-19 and nine last year with the Jackets -- but he's contributed more this year offensively and also provided a physical presence.
The advanced stats also see him as a dependable and solid blueliner, as the Blue Jackets have exactly 50.0 percent of the expected goals -- a measure of shot quality and quantity for and against -- when he's been on the ice at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick.
"He's just a simple player," Larsen said. "I think when he stays within himself, he's real effective. He's willing to block shots. He's willing to play physical. He moves the puck fairly quickly on most nights. The way we need him to play is a very simple brand and play hard, play assertive, play on his toes. He's got pretty good poise with the puck, too. Nobody really talks about that, but I feel like a lot of times he's very patient with the puck and makes the right play."
The New Hampshire native has been a healthy scratch for the past handful of games, but he could return to the lineup Saturday night in Seattle with the injury suffered by Adam Boqvist on Thursday. If so, he hopes to show Kraken fans what they could have had if things had worked out differently.
"It does have a little special place in my heart," he said of Seattle. "It's more funny than anything, but it is cool. If I have a chance to play tomorrow, I'm definitely gonna be excited and have that extra jam."