Say What - 'We Can Be Better As A Team'

Ryan Huska on his meetings with players:

"It’s moreso about starting the conversations about what went on, so all that stuff starts today, for what we want to see out of them over the course of the summer, and make sure that they all know that you don’t want to be in this position that we’re sitting here today. We set a goal every year of being a playoff team, and we didn’t get that this year, so that’s the ultimate gauge of a successful season. Everybody has to find a way to do more, and improve over the course of the summer so we’re in a better position next year, and that starts today with the conversations that we have with the players."

On two-way dialogue:

"I feel like they’re more open nowadays than they have in the past, even when I first started coaching, the young guys were very quiet. Everybody’s a part of trying to make a team work, I think the older guys on your team very much feel like they’re a part of helping it move forward, so they have ideas and suggestions along the way, and it’s our job as a coaching staff to make sure that we listen to them, because they’re the ones that have to go on the ice and apply the plan. So you work together, and I do feel like nowadays, the players are much more open to voicing concerns, giving you the opinion on the way things were, and areas that we can be better as a team."

On what he liked from the 2023-24 season:

"We brought some youth into the mix and we were able to incorporate them in the lineup, that was something that was important for us. The second thing that I was pleased with was our leadership group developed, and started to get stronger as the season went on, and that’s something that we need to continue to work on and develop here, because those are the guys that are going to help push us forward. We had a lot that went on over the course of the year, and I feel like with the leadership group, and the guys willing to persevere and fight through some of the adversity, we were competitive, just about every night. The guys worked, and that’s what I ask out of them, is to make sure that whatever the situation is, you come and work."

On Jonathan Huberdeau's season and future:

"It's hard for a player like Jonathan I think, to really look back at his last two years and think of it as success, because he’s always thought of himself as someone that has to generate all the time; if he doesn’t generate, he has a hard time with it but if he really takes a step back, over the last two years he’s become a better player, overall. I think what we saw from Christmas on was a guy that was committed to both sides of the game, and now he was starting to generate for us a little bit. So it’s finding that balance for him, where he can be a guy that contributes all the time, but recognize that he brings a lot of other things to the table for our team as well. He’s a player that’s no different from a younger player where, over the course of the summer, you want to dig in like you have to earn it every day. The summer for him is just as important as it is for one of our younger players that we’re expecting to take a bigger role next year, that’s what we’re excited about. The only silver lining for not playing meaningful games at this time of year, is the players have more time to get over the bumps and bruises, and they can really get after their training to make sure we’re not in this position again next year."

On Martin Pospisil's rookie season:

"He was awesome this year. If you look at our team, there was one guy that I thought changed that 2-7-1 start, had an impact on flipping the script a little bit on our season, that was Marty. Every night, he was a rat, if I can say that. The pace that he plays the game at is what we want to see from more of our players, like he is what we want to look like in a lot of ways. The part that you love about him, he practices the same way, so our players on the ice in practice know that ‘if I’m not ready, he’s going to finish his hit on me,’ so he’s just able to carry that over onto the game. For a young guy like that, to understand how he has to play all the time and that he can be a really good NHL player, not just an NHL player, this guy can be a really good NHL player, the World Championships gives him another opportunity to play against some really good hockey teams, in meaningful games. He’s a really good player; he’s one of the guys you have to be happy for how he’s progressed this year."

Craig Conroy on a sense of optimism about the future:

"I think so, you know, I really do. Obviously, they’re not where we want to be, they’re not where I want to be, the organization, the city as a whole, but it felt like there was a lot of optimism in the conversations. Hey, we’ve got to take some steps, we’ve got to move forward, but I didn’t feel any negativity or people upset or unhappy. Last year, I didn’t like the tone of what was said, with everyone leaving, it just didn’t feel like. But I didn’t get that upstairs with the guys."

On starting to look ahead to next season:

"The one thing we’re trying to do is figure out how we move this thing forward, to get to a point where we’re not sitting here talking right now. You don’t want to know when the end date is, you want to know ‘OK, we lost in Game 6, we won the Stanley Cup,’ I mean, those are the things you’re trying to achieve here. It’s hard to put today, expectations of what’s going to happen in a month, or a week, moving forward."

On his way of building the roster:

"My philosophy is, a guy like Zary, Pospisil, Coronato, Wolf; they need to take a step next year. They were in the NHL this year, they know what it is, now they need to take a step. We had guys with career years, we hope they have the same career year next year, but with these other guys taking a step, and who is coming underneath? Are there trades? Who are you going to get in the Draft? There’s a little bit of unknown there, so you don’t really know names yet, but yeah, you want to constantly be pushing, you want to sprinkle in these young guys, see how they do, see which ones rise, then next year we expect more out of each of them coming in, and hopefully they expect more out of themselves."

On what could potentially occur in free agency:

"Cap space is a weapon, for sure. You want to have cap space, because there’s even though it’s going to up, a lot of teams have spent money, but there might be players out there that need to be on the move even only to create cap space for someone in free agency. Do I think seven-year deals, right now, are the way to go? Probably not, but we do have space, we do have money, and we’re going to have to see (how) the landscape unfolds, because we do have a few holes we need to add. But how do we add, what kind of piece, again, term and contract are going to make a difference in what we’re trying to do here."

On preparing for the NHL Draft:

"Teams are going to pick the way they want to pick before us, and then you kind of see how the first three or four picks go, and you’ll have an idea that it’s going to be this player, or this player at that point. And our list is not set in stone yet. We have another meeting coming up soon, and there’ll be battles right ‘til the end to try to move a guy, especially know that they know where we’re picking. It’s a fun process, it’s an exciting time of year, the Draft is one of my favourite parts of this job. Everybody’s looking forward to it, but we’re really trying to dial in here, to make sure we make the right pick."

On Oliver Kylington's return and future:

"First, just to have him back playing was special, and Ollie said today that he wants to continue to play hockey, which is the thing we needed to hear. So we’ll be obviously talking to J.P., and seeing where this goes in the next month or so. For me, personally, just to see him back playing from where he was a couple years ago to where he is now, I’m just so excited for him. I’m happy, and he’s excited."