Manny Malhotra

Once again, I'm going to come back to those incremental improvements.

You know, you can't...

the mindset of having a great game and then a bad game and a great game and a bad game.

We just got to be able to ride the wave a little bit and help them find their consistent game.

To me, that's the...

The most important part about being a pro hockey player and an everyday NHLer is finding the consistency in your game.

So that's what we'll do with all of our players, not just our defensemen, is give them the structure to work within and help them find their game within our structure.

I'm not great at predicting too far in the future in terms of what a guy will be.

Like you said, there is definitely potential there to be a quality everyday NHLer.

And just like the rest of the guys coming to camp, it's our job to help them find their niche and to help them find what their game looks like at the NHL level and how that game can be a part of what we want to do here.

Obviously he's done really well in the face-off circle.

You know, just buying into and accepting certain roles is a big, excuse me, is a big part of creating a path for yourself in the NHL.

So helping him find those things that are going to make him be an everyday player is the goal going into next season.

To answer your question, I have not spoken with him yet.

And as I was saying before, with every player, my goal is to help him find his game.

And we all know what he's capable of doing, the talent that he possesses and the ability that he has on the ice.

One of the things that I love most about coaching is finding that connection with players and finding what makes them tick and how to get the best out of them.

So it's on myself and the staff to help him find his best game and to be the player that we know he's capable of being.

Again, I don't want to go too far down that road.

Um, if it happens, um,