After Monday’s practice, head coach Jim Hiller discussed the Morgan Rielly–Darren Raddysh pairing, the narratives surrounding Rielly entering the season, Dakota Joshua’s status, the competition for roster spots, and his early impressions of the team’s goaltending depth.
Morgan Rielly is now two days into training camp, and you had him with Darren Raddysh today. What do you like about that pairing?
Hiller: We talked about Morgan getting off to a little slow start, but we envisioned him playing with Raddy. It was good to get him out there for a full-paced, physical practice. It was actually quite physical for us today, and he came through it fine. We think they can be a good pair.
We will try to spot them a little more in the offensive zone if we can and maybe give them more minutes with some of our top-six forwards. It isn’t that they can’t take defensive-zone minutes or defend against the other team’s top lines, but we think maybe we can get them out there with our top six and maybe gain us an advantage.
You have known Morgan Rielly for a long time. He has talked about rediscovering or recommitting to his game. How does a veteran rediscover the best parts of his game and bring it forward?
Hiller: There are two things. You have to be in good shape, so your body has to be in shape. From there, it is really your mindset that takes you forward. It is your excitement and passion for the game.
When you play a lot of games in one place, it can become a bit of a routine or a Groundhog Day. You have to find a way to reignite the passion. It sounds to me like he has done that. Since I started talking to him — I met with him back in July — I can see that he is lighter, smiling, happier, and ready to go. I am really happy to see that for him.
Do you envision Rielly in a different role compared to the one he has played here in the past, which might help unlock more in his game?
Hiller: Things change all the time, so I don’t want to pigeonhole him and say, “This is what you are doing,” because things always change, and we are still evaluating. If he is with Raddysh, those are two offensive defensemen. Morgan skates, and Raddysh really shoots. They have both been shutdown-pair defensemen at different times, so we like that mix. We like that maybe they can be a little more offensive as a pair.
With that in mind, if they stay together, how do they remain on the right side of it defensively?
Hiller: That is just their job, right? We can talk about it and say, “Here is the plan,” but that is the responsibility that comes with it. I am hoping we make it easier for all of our defensemen this year with our forwards. You guys have watched practice. The forwards are doing a lot of skating, and they are doing a lot of skating back toward their own end. We need to have that. That makes everybody’s job easier defensively, particularly the defensemen.
Regardless of where or with whom Morgan Rielly plays, is there a part of his game that needs to be corrected?
Hiller: I don’t think there is any part of his game that needs to be corrected. I think he just needs to get the passion back for it and be in a good frame of mind. Like all of the defensemen, he needs support from the forwards.
I haven’t been here, but I understand the narrative that people got down on Morgan. I don’t see it. I am giving him a clean slate. I am glad he is excited to play, and I expect just a great year.
For years, he was looked upon favourably by everybody. Sometimes, things turn and swing a little too far one way or the other. It might not be the exact truth.
What is the issue with Dakota Joshua?
Hiller: He is on his return-to-play and isn’t quite there yet. We are getting close. We have one game left, so we are just getting him up to speed. When he is ready and available to join us at 100%, we will get him back with us.
When you say Joshua is on a return-to-play plan, what is he returning from?
Hiller: I won’t get into any specifics. He has been dealing with something. He was up and running, but we felt he maybe didn’t have enough time to really get up to full speed with his skating, conditioning, and all of that.
Bo Groulx moved into his spot today. What do you like about Groulx’s game?
Hiller: He is just a solid player. From what I can see, he is a really smart player with a good shot. He is a guy who knows how to play.
In his last game for us, he played on the penalty kill, the power play, and a regular shift. He wasn’t an NHL player full-time, and he still received all of those roles from the coach already this year, so he is doing something right.
You mentioned that the shortened camp could disadvantage the players trying to break through because they don’t receive as long of a look. How do you balance that as a coach?
Hiller: Sometimes, there are a lot of players who are fighting for one role or one or two spots. You can say, “Let’s look at these guys and see who jumps out.” I look at it a little bit differently. You have to jump out at me in that case — not just at me, but at our coaching staff and management. We are looking for the players who jump out at us, where we don’t have to look for them.
I won’t get into specifics, but we have seen a few guys do that. We have had really positive conversations about players who we didn’t know that much about, frankly, or didn’t think would be pushing as hard as they are.
When you rewatched the two preseason games from the weekend, was there anyone who particularly caught your eye?
Hiller: It was different. I don’t know if you guys were able to watch both games at the same time, but we were able to go back and watch the second game. The game (in Montreal) was just a much different game. They, of course, had their top six forwards in there, and we were much heavier and more physical. We played in the offensive zone, forechecked, and were hard.
As a group, Paul, Sissons, Duhaime, and Blueger — those four guys we brought in — really set a tone in that game. It is a tone that will benefit our team once everybody gets together. That was the clear thing I saw.
Beyond Bobrovsky and Stolarz, what is your feeling about the goaltending so far?
Hiller: The guys played really well in Montreal. Both of them played well. They had some good chances. Bob and Stoli were good against Montreal, too. Danault made a hell of a shot. That was a really nice goal, and then a couple were deflected — one off a shin pad and one off a stick.
Do you like the goaltending depth?
Hiller: Yeah, of course. We see it out here because we skate with Group 2 and have those competitions. Those goalies are good.
The other guy — Hlavaj; I call him “Havvy” — has really jumped out at me. I’m not a goalie guy, but I have been asking questions about him, like, “Where did he come from?” He has been really good.
