For a pair of young Ducks, at long last, the time for talking contracts is over and the time for playing hockey has begun. With restricted free agents Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale now signed to three-year extensions, Anaheim's full focus now turns to its tall task on opening night, a battle against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in a mere eight days.
Drysdale officially joined Ducks training camp on Friday, skating with his teammates for his first on-ice practice under head coach Greg Cronin and meeting with local media to share his thoughts on last season's injury recovery, his contract negotiation and the year ahead.
Note some answers have been lightly edited for style and clarity.
On moving on from the contract talks
It's definitely good that it's behind me. I think it was a pretty weird situation but I'm just happy to be back with the guys and the team. They've welcomed me with open arms and I couldn't be happier to be back and getting to work.
On his first practice
It was unbelievable. Felt good to be skating out there with the guys, getting in some battles, getting the touches in and just being back here.
It's a good environment and a different environment from last year. It's just a exciting time to be back.
On his first impressions of head coach Greg Cronin
Yeah, I saw what Z said (laughs). Thankfully I got to keep my stick (laughs), but [Cronin] is great. First meeting, you can tell it's going to be about holding everyone accountable and each other doing the same. It's going to be a good locker room.
On the support from his teammates
It was unbelievable. I was at home, just sitting on my couch waiting, to be honest. It was my first time going through it. No sugar-coating it, it definitely sucked, but all the guys were reaching out and making sure I was all good and supporting me. They were letting me know when I come back, it'll all be good and they were here. That was a huge help. It's part of the reason I love this team and this group. I'm happy to be back.
On getting back up to speed before the season starts
I want to be getting back into the actual game battles, intensity, stuff like that. Again, it's no secret that I haven't played in a while with last year, but I had a great offseason, a long offseason. I'm healthy and being back here, I'll make the most out of the next couple of days. I feel great, so I'm not too worried. I think it should be a quick adjustment, so I'm just looking forward to it at this point.
On his first game
I honestly think it'll probably feel like my first game [as a rookie], to be honest with you. I mean, it's been so long and it sucked. It sucked not playing. It sucked just watching the guys go out there and battle. So I mean, I'm just excited. It's just excitement, obviously. Just looking forward to it.
On his offseason training
I feel good, honestly refreshed and ready to go. Just had a lot of time to work, think and watch the games. I had a full year of watching games, so I picked up on things here and there. I watched a lot of hockey, got into it and now I guess it's time to put it all together and play.
On the team's defense, including the addition of Radko Gudas
I think our backend, just being out there for the first skate, there are a lot of good, talented players out there, and a good variety of them. I watched Gudas last night and holy cow, that guy's a flippin animal (laughs). He comes off the ice [after a fight], I see him and he's just laughing. He loves it. So it's great to have a variety of guys like that on the backend. It's exciting.
On whether he has continued trying to learn how to play the guitar
God, no. I gave it up (laughs). I took four or five months of lessons and then I had a little realization that I still couldn't play anything, so I decided to hang it up.
