Nichols' Notes
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The New York Post’s Larry Brooks pens a tale of 24-year-old Michael Del Zotto’s moment of truth in the NHL.
This can’t be about the dotted line for Del Zotto — not now. For the bottom line is that at the age of 24, Del Zotto is a reclamation project. It is impossible to believe there aren’t needy teams out there that wouldn’t take a flier on him, but at their price, not his; their terms, not his.
This is a summer in which Del Zotto should spend his time surrounded by, and looking at, mirrors. The alarm has sounded.
James Neal comes to the Nashville Predators knowing he needs to make some changes, as relayed by Josh Cooper of The Tennessean.
“Your emotion gets the better of you,” Neal, a former 40-goal scorer, said of his style of play. “There were things that have happened in my game that you regret. I have to change and be better for it. I've changed as a player, I've grown as a player. I'm still young, I have a very long way to go. Mistakes happen and I'm going to be better for it and move forward and not let that stuff happen again.”
Predators GM David Poile had some very complimentary things to say about Neal’s game, naturally, but this particular quote was insightful as it relates to Poile’s managerial style.
“I'm aware of how he plays,” Poile said. “I like taking players for what they are and what they do. I'm not big on trying to change players. If I wanted to change a guy, I probably wouldn't trade for him. I think there are strengths and weaknesses. Maybe it's bad habits, but that's one of the things that makes James Neal pretty good. He plays hard all the time.”
Stars GM Jim Nill, via Mike Heika of DallasNews.com, continues to reiterate that the plan with the team’s defense remains to trust the kids. Of Jamie Oleksiak, Patrik Nemeth, John Klingberg, Jyrki Jokipakka and Cameron Gaunce, Heika notes Nill is betting that at least two of those youngsters will take a step forward, and that the remaining defensemen will be as good or better than last season.
“I’m excited about our defense,” Nill said. “We’ve got three or four young kids that are knocking on the door from the Calder Cup championship down in Texas. We think we’ve got lots of different options. We know they’re all going to get better. We think we’re going to be just fine.”
Jason Botchford of The Province examines why the Vancouver Canucks only wanted a one-year deal for Chris Tanev, but within the story was an underlying subplot identifying how new GM Jim Benning seems to want to move as many processes along as quickly as possible, whereas Mike Gillis was perhaps perceived as more plodding and passive.
“I don’t know what their approach was before I got here,” Benning said. “I like to try to get things done so we know where we stand, and the players know where they stand, so they can concentrate on getting ready for the season and they don’t have things to worry about.”
With Jason Spezza having now left the Ottawa Senators, The Sun's Bruce Garrioch looks at the Top 5 unforgettable Sens to leave. Daniel Alfredsson, Zdeno Chara, Marian Hossa, Dany Heatley, and Alexei Yashin are profiled.
The Calgary Sun’s Randy Sportak looks at the transition from college hockey to what could be a step into the NHL for talented, but tiny, Flames prospect Johnny Gaudreau.
“I've talked to a lot of small guys in the NHL, and my agent has a few smaller guys in the NHL, like St. Louis. I've got a lot of great advice,” said Gaudreau. “I've just got to make sure I follow in their footsteps and do what they've been doing.”
Such as?
“They said you need to be strong in your legs, definitely work out your legs,” he relayed. “And you don't need to be too big in your upper body because you won't be able to stickhandle that well. Just a lot of great pointers from a lot of great guys and I really appreciate it.”