Mike Babcock met with the media ahead of Tuesday’s game against Winnipeg, touching on Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, the growth in Nazem Kadri’s game, the Calder Trophy conversation, Mitch Marner’s status, and more.
What’s been the key to Nazem’s consistency this deep into the season in a breakthrough year for him?
Mike Babcock: He got in shape this summer. It’s amazing when you put in the kind of work he did in the offseason. He got some confidence last year. Learned how to play without the puck a little bit, is committed to doing that. Got in shape this year and has been able to carry that through. By earning the opportunity, you play more. You play with confidence. Plus, we put him in a different spot on the powerplay – a spot he can score in, versus out in the flank. He’s gritty around the net so he gets those second chances and he’s been able to finish. Good for him, and obviously good for us. He’s now become a threat for us.
Hockey is a team game, but how significant is it for you to see two special young players like you have tonight?
Babcock: I think it’s real special. The other part with the Laine kid is he’s playing with Scheifele. Scheifele, in my opinion, is one of the best centers in the league. I think he’s a real hockey player. You get the added bonus. In fairness to Auston, we play him with two kids all the time. That’s a little bit different. I think they’re both real special players. Size, skill, look like they’re going to be significant, generational-type players as long as they got the drive train to keep working, and they look like to me that they both do. So they’re exciting to watch, and obviously they have to worry about Matthews and we have to worry about Laine. But Laine, because of the package they have with Little and Wheeler and Ehlers on the other line… they’ve got good forwards here.
Where would Mitch fit into the Calder conversation normally?
Babcock: I don’t know… if he wins the scoring, where does he fit in? Ask me at the end.
How long do you expect Mitch to be out for?
Babcock: Day to day, so what does that usually mean? Ten days. That’s why they have these doctors and these trainers because the coach and the player would be playing today. They don’t let us get involved in the equation so we save ourselves from ourselves. He’s now not available today.
Andersen handles the puck quite a bit as a goalie. Have you had a goalie who plays the puck as much before? Does it help with the breakouts?
Babcock: How would I say this… lots of times, goalies… like Dominik Hasek wasn’t known for being very good with the puck but he made all of those little plays that led to breakouts. So, we don’t feel that that’s a strength at all on our team – our goalie touches with our D. We work on it lots. We don’t feel that’s a strength yet at all.
Frederik Gauthier has been called back up. What are you hoping he brings to the team?
Babcock: Size, meanness, good defensively, good in the faceoff circle. We’re just going to give Smitty a reset there and get him back at it, but Goat gets a chance today.
With Laine and Matthews and McDavid and Gaudreau in Calgary, is it fun that kind of the Canadian rivalries between cities can get reignited a little bit when you’ve got special players like that?
Babcock: I think it’s better when you’ve got good teams. Obviously, for the people in Canada, they’re hoping there are real good teams in Canada so they get to watch hockey in the spring. The better players you have, the better chance you have to have that. I think, when you look at players playing in Canada, there are some real good players playing in Canada right now. Winnipeg has some real good ones.
How would you describe your trust level in Auston defensively from the first day of the season?
Babcock: Night and day. Before, when you have the puck all the time, you don’t have to worry abut it. The problem with playing center in the NHL is that you’ve got to know where to stand, especially against real good players. He gets the toughest matchup on the road and he draws the best D every night. At home, we don’t give him the toughest matchup. We give it to Naz, but it’s not like we’re shy. He’d love to play against Scheifele tonight.
You talked about the two kids that are playing with Matthews. Where do you see the next step for Hyman in his game?
Babcock: He’s like a lot of our guys. We’ve got a whole bunch of kids on our team, so he’s just got to keep working on his skill set. Determination, heaviness, passing the puck is not an issue. He’s got to work on his shot. Marner is the same way. They’ll have a huge offseason, those guys. They’re totally committed and they’ll be way better players by the Fall. In the meantime, as the year goes on, they just don’t give you a lot of practice days in the league.
