Q&A Recap: Adam Nicholas

MONTREAL - The term 'offseason' comes with an asterisk for Montreal's director of hockey development Adam Nicholas.

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On Tuesday, he joined the Canadiens' official Twitch account to answer fan questions and talk prospects, development strategy, philosophy and more.

Here are a few highlights from the Q&A:

The answers below have been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Adam Nicholas on the mindset in the offseason:

We've been building out development plans for everybody and doing a lot of video clubs with guys. We're pulling them in just to talk about the playoffs and what they see to really keep the brain active and keep them engaged. We're trying to keep the mindset of we're not in the offseason, we're actually still working because we see ourselves in this situation moving forward. So, we don't want to be just turning it completely off right now. We want to make sure we stay intact with our business and in our job right now.

Nicholas on the timing of making plays at the NHL level:

The biggest thing at the end of the day is teaching when to and when not to. I always use this as a funny joke with the players, but I should know when to eat a salad, when not to eat a salad if I want to lose weight, right? And I should learn when to do it more often, versus not to. It's just like anything. They want to dangle; well, the dangling is like your dessert. If you hang on to the puck too long and do it too much, you're not going to see the results you want to see from a physical standpoint and an output. So, that's when you've got to learn when to and when not to and that's the hardest thing to do as a player. A lot of the times these young players, they've been given everything, they can just do whatever they want and there's the physical separation. What I mean by physical separation is their skating, their hands, their shot is just better than their peers in that moment. Now, you get to the top of the food chain and the separation is not there anymore. You got to start using this [brain] and learning the game and the pace, and the timing.

Nicholas on working with Juraj Slafkovsky:

What we're trying to teach him is how to play the 200 by 85-foot game, knowing when to and when not to. You saw moments where he was trying, at first, to possess the puck all the time and enter with possession and try to flash his skill. Well, that's not the NHL all the time. That's where watching highlights comes into effect. So, what we worked on him is just the game. Like, okay, this is when to chip it, this is when to put a puck into space and then go back and recover it. Those are the types of things that we really focused and want him to hone. So, the Big Rig [Slafkovsky], I feel, is heading in a very positive trajectory to where we need him to get to. This summer, for him, a big focus is going to be owning below the goal line, owning net front, and using those skills in those areas to produce.

Nicholas on the correlation between a player's confidence and their performance:

There's no real secret about why Kirby Dach is really good with us. He's really good with us because we breed confidence with him. Marty is excellent with him for that. The mind is the most powerful weapon in the world. If you can put the mind at ease and it doesn't lack confidence, and it's feeling like it can be a difference maker, then you're going to be able to play with freedom. Your body is going to do things that you want it to do and that's ultimately what it comes down to. It's breeding confidence. The reason a lot of guys in this League work on their shot, their scoring is not to work on the physical elements. Although physical elements might be taught in that session, it's to build confidence so they feel ready. That's ultimately what you're trying to do with every player, it's to make them feel prepared.

Nicholas on Lane Hutson's development:

He's just special. This is another one where he just has the quickness, the acceleration, the explosiveness. That's what we're trying to get, that's what we're trying to foster here, that type of acceleration, quickness and explosiveness. Lane's a puck distributor, the puck is going to go through him. He plays with the puck and he's basically what you would call your point guard in basketball and he's your facilitator. He does it really well and knows how to tie himself in between space and checks, and he gets himself into areas where he's a threat all the time. So, we're really happy. We're ecstatic with what he's doing. He's also growing. He's gotten thicker and bigger, which is massive for us. That's what we need him to do. He's going to learn how to play defense within his own body, and he's not going to do it the same way everybody else does. He's not going to finish hard through checks. He's not going to be crushing guys. He's going to play with his mind. He's going to tell you, "You have something", and then he takes it away. There's going to be a lot of deception through his defensive game. Overall, we're ecstatic. The kid is an absolute stud.

Nicholas on working for the Montreal Canadiens:

What Geoff Molson has put together here, and Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes allowing us to build it like a modern-day organization, is really special. When I walk up the steps at the Bell Centre and you see the Habs logo and all the history underneath it, and then you walk through and see the statues, it gives you goosebumps. I'm elated to work for the team and it's just something that I cherish very, very much. When I end my voicemail I say, "Go Habs Go," because I do feel it's a complete honor. When I took a marketing class in college, they talked about how if you use red in your logo, it means passion, right? And red is everywhere here, it's just a passionate franchise and that's what I like to bring. I have energy and passion and I love what I do. Working for the Montreal Canadiens is just a dream come true.

Be sure to join the Video: Adam Nicholas chats Habs on Twitch to be part of the fun year-round!