Jim Hiller on what he’s looking for from Matthews’ line to end preseason: “I’d like to see a little more, to be honest with you”

Before the preseason game against Ottawa, Jim Hiller discussed what he wants to see from Gavin McKenna and the Matthews line, how he’ll manage competition for lineup spots, and the early work on the power play.

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What are you looking for from Gavin McKenna tonight in his last tune-up before things get going for real?

Hiller: I’m looking to see if he makes some subtle adjustments to his game. I talked to him about it: What did you like? What was different in the preseason game versus just the hard camp scrimmages and drills? He identified a couple of things. He pretty naturally understands how the game goes, so I’m looking forward to seeing him make the subtle adjustments.

What’s it like having a hockey discussion with a young player with his hockey IQ?

Hiller: It’s great, because he thinks it at a really high level. I tell him what I’m thinking and ask, “What are you seeing?” I try to get some of his feedback. Again, I just find him really humble. He likes the game and is really willing to learn and have good discussions. You can have a really good hockey discussion with him.

What do you think this game means to Daniel Alfredsson, and how might you use him as a resource against a division rival as the year goes on?

Hiller: I never asked him. I was just with him. I assume it’s just another game. I think the hard one for him will be going back into Ottawa. That’s what I think. He gave us some input this morning on some of the stuff that Ottawa does well, so that’s a resource for us. But I think there’ll be a lot more questions about that once we go into Ottawa.

What have you enjoyed about the internal competition, especially among the forwards in camp?

Hiller: We’ve kept the lines kind of structured the same, as you’ve noticed, but we have a lot of good players. A lot of players can move around the lineup and complement other players. Although the lines haven’t been moved, and we hope we don’t have to move it, we certainly have an eye on some people getting shifted around if they don’t end up performing to their expectations. That’s something we’ll just keep watching.

You were most interested in seeing the Matthews line in the first preseason game. What did you see, and what are you hoping to see tonight?

Hiller: I’d like to see a little more, to be honest with you. Auston was really dangerous off the rush. That was clear. I didn’t think they spent enough time creating in the offensive zone, which they need to do. If you’re going to play on the top line, you’ve got to create offensive-zone time as well. You can’t just be a rush line; you have to have both elements. I think the line, as it is structured, should, so I’m looking for them to be better tonight as three.

How patient are you with a line before deciding to change it? Where are you in the spectrum of patience with a line or switching it up?

Hiller: I think I’m pretty patient. You might say, “I thought he said he was patient,” because I’ve been known to move things around quite a bit and pretty quickly. But if you ask me right now, I’m nice and patient. There are responsibilities, and not everybody is going as well as they need to be on each given night. That doesn’t mean the same group doesn’t get back together in the next game. But if we have some guys going and some guys not, I’m pretty quick to shift those around.

How difficult is it to implement structure when you have less than two weeks between your first practice and first game?

Hiller: It’s been a challenge, and I think we talked about that coming in. We’ve had to prioritize maybe three areas of the game that we think are most important or would be most beneficial for our team specifically. There are areas we really haven’t touched much, or have touched just briefly with video and not so much on the ice. That’ll come in time.

We just don’t want to hit everything at the expense of missing maybe three of the most important things. If we do those well, maybe they cover up some of the other things as we get going.

Can you share those three things?

Hiller: Well, no, but if you watch practice, you can see we’ve spent some time in the defensive zone. Those types of things have been an emphasis.

How has Chris Tanev looked, and what do you think about his durability this season?

Hiller: He’s just been great. It was a big loss for the team last year, but he looks fresh. He’s excited. As a coach, you see him out there, and he’s a really important player for the team in many ways. We know what he does on the ice, but off the ice he provides a lot, too. We’re counting on him being there every night.

Darren Raddysh mentioned that it was good to get power-play reps in practice yesterday. What step do you want to see from the units tonight?

Hiller: That group played quite a bit together, and they had the puck a lot in the offensive zone. That was pretty good. We didn’t think we shot enough. We thought we passed just a little bit too much. We’ve got Raddysh’s shot. We finally got it to him—I don’t know how many shots he took, but the one went in, right? We have to look for that more often and then make teams adjust to it.

That was the plan going into the last game. We didn’t execute it very well, but it’s something new. That right-shot bomb is new for that group of power-play players, and we’ll have to get adapted to using him more often.

There looks to be competition for minutes on the blue line. What’s your message to Troy Stecher, in particular?

Hiller: I haven’t talked to Stech specifically about that. What he said to me was, “I just come in and work hard. I have zero expectations of anything. I’ve been doing this for years. I’ll work, do whatever is necessary, and I’ll always be there for the team.” That’s what I’ve got from him.

We talked about it in the summer, and that’s what I’ve gotten from him in the first two weeks of knowing him. Low maintenance, gives everything he’s got. His teammates love him. We don’t really have to have a specific conversation — as of yet, anyway, because he’s true to his word.

What do Colton Sissons and Nick Paul give you as the basis for a purpose-built third line?

Hiller: I like the size, first of all. They’re proven in the league. Left and right faceoff guys. They’ve played on both sides of the puck, played with good players, and checked. There’s a bunch of versatility and some really good leadership there. We’ve talked about doing it right, calming the game down, taking charge, and not panicking. Those are all really important qualities that those two bring.

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