Wheeler and his family arrived in New York with plenty of time before the start of camp in order to find a house and get his children settled before the start of the school year. In the time since, Wheeler has fully embraced becoming a Ranger, as he’s seamlessly fit in to the team’s dressing room. He has also gotten accustomed to a new system under Head Coach Peter Laviolette. Laviolette’s former team, the Nashville Predators, played a seven-game series against Wheeler’s Winnipeg Jets in the Second Round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs..
“I’ve never coached him, but I’ve played against him enough,” Laviolette said. “I feel like I’m pretty familiar with his game. Sometimes there’s a learning curve with young players that you haven’t seen in the league and haven’t coached against. With Blake, it’s been a lot of him. It’s really nice to have him on our side because he does a lot of things. He can play power play, he can play in a top-six role, he’s smart defensively, he’s really excited to be here and be a part of this group. He’s been a leader. There’s lots of things that he brings to the table that I’m really excited about, that our team is really excited about having here.”
Wheeler’s 6-foot-5, 220-pound frame and versatility as a skilled yet reliable two-way forward is a crucial bonus for the Rangers to utilize throughout their lineup and special teams units. There’s also the veteran insight Wheeler has obtained over the course of an impressive resume that includes 1,118 regular season NHL games, during which he scored 922 points (312G and 610A) . Wheeler was also captain of the Jets from 2016-22, where he was teammates with the Rangers’ current captain, Jacob Trouba, from 2013-19.
“Just how hard he works is the biggest thing,” Trouba said of Wheeler’s impact. “For me, being able to watch him when I was a young player - just simply the effort he puts in, how he takes care of himself, how he was the first guy that I really learned how to be a pro from. He’s the guy I would watch. I’d be like, ‘Oh this is what Blake’s doing, I should probably be taking care of myself better or doing something a little bit different.’ He was my role model when I was younger and a guy who I followed his lead. It's cool to kind of come full circle with him now that he's in New York.”
And for Wheeler, the feeling is mutual, as he’s enjoyed getting to witness firsthand how Trouba leads as he wears the storied C for the Rangers.
“It’s great to see the amount of respect that the room has for him,” Wheeler said. “He plays so damn hard out there, and he takes it super seriously. The growth that I've seen in him from a young person and young player to today -- being on this side of my career, those are the things you really enjoy the most. Seeing the guys that you've been around for a long time and just seeing the maturation and seeing them kind of come into what they are today -- Trouba is certainly one of those guys.”
With training camp wrapping up and the official start of the 2023-24 season coming soon, Wheeler is eager to get going.
“There's determination; there's a great way about this room,” Wheeler said. “For this group, it's about learning and getting better every day. We’ll see where that takes us.”
