Todd McLellan talks to the media ahead of a preseason matchup vs the Anaheim Ducks

Last updated Oct 11, 2022 Edit Source

• News post

• Todd McLellan

Todd McLellan talks to the media ahead of a preseason matchup vs the Anaheim Ducks

is there a number that you’d like to see the full group play together or is it more about the music people well as we get we’ve got four left and play every second night um we’re still trying to evaluate some of the question marks they need to continue to play but we have to make sure now that the team is up and running and by the end of the training camp the veterans should all have three to four games for sure um maybe not quite today but moving forward you’d like to see all your units together at one point uh pairs using uh they’re playing with each other on the penalty kill I think that’s important but we still got a game or two here to evaluate and try and give opportunity to some and um every player has a lifeline and some players have extended there’s others it’s shrunk on them but this is the week does venue play a role in the preseason or as a first game first preseason game of crypto because that did teach you anything uh it doesn’t necessarily help teach I don’t think but uh a common theme around the league as you dress a few more veterans um at home you don’t have to travel alone to wherever you’re going um and they play big big minutes during the year alleviate travel I think you’re seeing that so tenancy is that the home team at points has a stronger lineup or more veteran type lineup because that’s where you want to play those individuals and Rogue team tends to be a little younger or guys that haven’t played quite as much or won’t play as much during the year so I I think that’s a tendency around the league um that’s what we’re seeing again this year it’s not the big night for Sean Walker you can actually kind of get back into it here with whatever maybe not necessarily Sean but speaking from a general standpoint is there a trade a trait about you you said you refer to him as someone that kind of has had a pitbull for players like him those are a move undrafted those have maybe been whole is there something about them in particular that I don’t know really drives them whatsoever that that’s okay yeah this is a good question and a good observation so um obviously walks and and we talked about I think about a week ago 10 days ago about the undrafted players that have been able to come through here playing and these are the ones that have stuck with it and committed and bullied their way into teams lineups um there’s a whole bunch that haven’t done that but the ones that have um have that constitutiveness that determination I’m going to prove you wrong every night and if you tell me I can’t I’ll show you I can mentality and when you look at the mazat Walker ifollo those types of players they play that way I think most nights they’re personal makeup reflects their fight to get into the league and stay in the league and they they play that way and that’s probably why I use the word pitbull with with Locker there’s a scent maybe a little not to compare but do you see where there’s a little bit of more of a sense where it’s like you can’t take things for granted the the entitlements used in our society everywhere not not in just in the LA Kings locker room or in the NHL it’s all it’s all over the place um and those individuals are not entitled they don’t feel like they’ve been given anything they’ve had to fight and continue to prove sometimes at the other end of the scale people will look and say well they’ve been given everything and they’ve been entitled in nine lives type scenario for different individuals under different circumstances but the whole group that we’re talking about zero entitlement so if you look at a guy over on his offside from a coaching standpoint where where do you like what concerns do you have well for a guy like what he can or cannot do a planning options it’s I think it’s individual um comfort when you do that some cans some can’t and for a whole bunch of different reasons based on the individual the the pivot the ability to see things uh getting around the puck to shoot it um confidence to play over there and there is there isn’t a single variable that that they all fall into it’s different for everyone um Alex said there’s played in the league for however long he’s played I don’t know 15 16 years he feels good over there he just goes and stands over that’s what he does so his ability to change now would be harder than something that hasn’t done it there’s another variable so your your questions a good one but I can’t answer it specifically because I think every demon takes on different these different variables that come into play there you mentioned you hold the equipment I’m obviously you got sick right now but what do you need to see from him to make that a reality what does he need to earn that extra ice time well he’s got a Beat um some other centermen we’re going to play in the center he’s going to be take ice time away from those other individuals it’s a tough task on our team when you look at copy and you look at what Phil does and how hard lizzo plays and the the effect he had so uh anyway you cut it there’s 60 Minutes a night certain games roll out with power plays and penalty kills but at the end of the day you’ve got to start grabbing minutes from other people so his minutes could go up and down based on others performances but he’s also responsible for his own and we expect there’s that word expectations our internal expectations are realistic they’re um attainable their team orientated but also individual driven and our expectations for cues have taken the next step physically on the ice stain the models a little bit more I haven’t seen the blocked off pucks very much this year which is already a good sign the ability to make plays a little bit quicker more production offensively he’s got great instincts and stuff can you get more out of that is he responsible defensively does this Face-Off numbers go way up and we’ve seen that already in the exhibition season so he’s already taking steps to more ice time but the way the game rolls out and what the others are doing also affects how you use people what’s the likelihood of uh being able to get Jersey and sometimes later uh we’re hoping to do that and potentially already depending on how you know RV would likely be that last game if he’s going to play it all durers we really believe we can get him in a game or two even this week with Thursday and a lot coming back because I make it more difficult to get some of your Brent carp has had a good amount of campaign in the lineup and how do you kind of deal with that situation difficult decisions are good ones for us and yeah getting Jersey back and watch back is is great for our team the fact that the the kid is really pushing and doing some good things is another bonus for all of us um it’ll be they’ll sort themselves out as time goes on um everybody’s at a different juncture in their careers uh Alexander is not going to play in Ontario who’s going to play on our team uh Brian Clark has two options he can play here go back to Junior there’s some that are waiver bowl that buy us time there’s other guys we have to think about for waivers there’s so many factors that come in and what we look like on day one on the blue line might not be what we look like on day two it can vary from day to day and not even based on injury just performance and business