If there's one person who knows what makes Jayden Grubbe a special player, it's Brent Sutter.
Sutter drafted him, coached him and named him captain at the Red Deer Rebels. He understands what it takes to play at the NHL level, having done it more than 1,000 times himself.
Sutter knows what it takes to be great. He also knows Grubbe has it.
"He's just going to be your hardest worker on your team," Sutter told NewYorkRangers.com on Monday. "He's going to be a guy that's going to do whatever it takes to be successful. He's going to be someone that is going to be a hard guy to play against. That's what he is. He's going to be someone that can play on both sides of the puck, and you never have enough of those guys on your team. Centers like that are hard to find."
Brent Sutter: Jayden Grubbe is 'Exceptional'
Sutter concluded with one simple statement:
"He is exceptional."
This past Saturday, Sutter watched his captain become a third-round draft pick of the New York Rangers. He was thrilled. But there was no part of him that was surprised.
"It's hard to find a guy like that - to be big, strong, can play the power play, good at killing penalties, really good skater," Sutter said. "He's just one of those guys that is a package that you love to have, especially down the middle of the ice - that's pretty, pretty special to have."
So special, in fact, that Sutter knew after Grubbe finished his 16-year-old season in 2019-20 that he was looking at his next Red Deer Rebels captain.
It is not customary for a 17-year-old kid to captain a major junior team. But then again, Grubbe isn't a customary player, and what Sutter saw from him during the season prior made a couple things clear: that there was no harder worker on the team, and there was no one who set a better example for the players around him.
Just before the 2019-20 season, Sutter and Grubbe sat down for a meeting. They talked about what it would take for Grubbe to take the next step, to get to the next level. They talked about being a big, strong guy who's hard to play against. They talked about responsibility at both ends of the ice. They talked about the commitment it would take, the hard work it would take, the sacrifice it would take to get to where he wanted to be.
Then, for the next six months, Sutter saw Grubbe do each and every one of those things.
Grubbe sacrificed offense for defense. He spent countless hours in the video room with his coaches. He became something Sutter and his staff were always hoping he would be: a complete player.
"We knew right when he was coming back to camp that we were going to name him captain," Sutter said. "It was easy to name him captain, just for the traits that he has and his DNA. He's just exceptional in that; he's off the charts. I was extremely happy for him, and for the Rangers for drafting him, because he brings an element that every team needs, and especially down the middle of the ice. He's obviously like all young players - they've got to continue to learn, and get better, and improve, and take steps, and take more responsibility, be more accountable - but for him, all of that is so natural because it just is. When you have that natural ability of leadership qualities, all of those things just kind of fall in line with it."
When asked to elaborate on the reasons it was clear that even as a 17-year-old, Grubbe was captain material, Sutter offered up a laundry list.
"The way he developed," Sutter said. "The way he put the team ahead of himself. Wanting to learn the game as a 16-year-old and the proper way to play. The respect that you see others around the room have for him. The way he carried himself. He's coachable. Challenging individuals and the team to be better, yet he would put it on himself, was always aware - you know, 'I've got to be better for the group. I've got to be better.' He was just like that. That's the way he did it."
On Saturday, after being selected by the Rangers, Grubbe used words like "intense" and "compete" and "physical" to describe himself. They are qualities he'll need to carry with him in 2021-22 and beyond, and especially when he reaches the next level.
In Sutter's eyes, he has the ideal makeup to get there - and when he does, he won't be just anyone; he will grow into a critical piece of a team that needs him in order to succeed.
"He's one of those guys that plays for keeps every night," Sutter said. "His intensity is through the roof. To me, he's going to be a real solid National Hockey League player that brings the toughness that you love down the middle, brings the two-way game down the middle - someone a coach can put in in any situation, if needed.
"He's going to have a role, and whatever coach who coaches him finds that role [to be], he'll be exceptional at it. He's so driven and so disciplined in everything he does. The sky's the limit for this kid. He's going to have a very, very important role within a hockey team that's significant for that team to have success."
