On reflections on the season:
We’re disappointed. As a player you want to win as many games as you can. Your goal is to make the playoffs. Obviously, we didn’t do that this year. There’s obviously some excitement with all of the young players playing well and everything like that, but for me personally it’s disappointing with how we played as a team. We didn’t get the job done.
On the energy in the room with the young guys coming in:
It changed. We got rid of some guys; lost some good guys. The young guys bring a lot of energy. Make you feel a little bit older everyday. It’s good to have them around. They’ve got a tonne of energy, smiling everyday and just happy to be here. It shows on the ice. They all work extremely hard. It was fun to watch each one of them progress and get better and better as they got more games under their belt.
On spending all of his career in Toronto so far:
It’s been a good journey for me. I didn’t know what to expect coming out of college undrafted. It’s been awesome. It’s been great I’ve got to spend my time here [in Toronto]. Now I think I’ve got to take on a lot more of a leadership role. We’ve got a lot of young guys that are coming in. I’m one of the older guys now with a little more experience. I’ll try to help the young guys as much as I can – the centermen, and everyone else. I’ll just try to talk to guys and help them out as much as I can. They’re all great players. You don’t have to tell them much; you’ve just got to help them and guide them a bit. Everyone is so skilled now; all of these young kids are so fast and so talented. It’s fun to watch.
On how badly he wants to be part of the rebuilding process going forward:
It’d be fun. You can see, with a lot of those callups, how good of players they are already. They’re only going to get better as time goes on. I think we might be closer to winning than a lot of people think. It’d be fun to be a part of.
On whether he’s tired of doing this after non-playoff seasons:
You want to win. Everyone wants to win. It sucks losing. It sucks being done right now, and watching those guys battle in the playoffs. It looks fun. We had that taste with the one year, and it was so exciting. Hopefully that comes sooner than later here. I think things are moving in the right direction. I think we’re definitely going the right way. Everyone has got to have a good, strong workout summer and come back ready. You never know what will happen.
On the window to win a Cup and his desire to win now at age 30:
I’m not getting any younger, for sure. You always want to have a run at it. It’s something you think about everyday. It’d be really exciting and fun just to have that opportunity. I think things are moving in the right direction here and it’d be exciting to be a part of that.
On who he is rooting for in the playoffs:
All my good friends, I’ll cheer for. Jamie Benn in Dallas, I played with him in junior, so I’ll be rooting for him. I’ll be rooting for those guys in San Jose. I’ll be cheering for Phil pretty hard. I’m excited to watch him in the playoffs. Hopefully he can go on a big run there.
