Canucks’ Gaudette enjoys being ‘thrown right into the fire’
Green says youngster’s willingness to leave it all on the ice every shift is ‘how we want to play’
Life moves fast. Like his former high-octane Northeastern University linemates, Adam Gaudette could be learning the professional game in the AHL. However, when Jay Beagle suffered a forearm fracture blocking a shot Oct. 13, the recalled Hobey Baker Award winner dived into the deep end of the development pool with the Vancouver Canucks.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
After all, when Gaudette, Dylan Sikura and Nolan Stevens combined for a gaudy 76 goals and 156 points last season before Northeastern lost in the first round of the NCAA playdowns to Michigan, it led to the late-round NHL draft picks being signed in March by Vancouver, Chicago and St. Louis respectively.
And while Sikura and Stevens are in the minors, Gaudette is not only in The Show, the fourth-line centre faced his idol Jonathan Toews on Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
“He’s somebody I try to emu late my game off of and a guy I’ve looked up to since he’s been in the league, so it’s special,” Gaudette said after the morning skate. “It’s everything with him and it’s part of being a pro. You have to make sacrifices off the ice and everything revolves around the game. It’s taking a lot of time to nail it down and get on the right track.”
All of that is not lost on Gaudette.
He had a five-game taste at the end of the last NHL season and saw where his game needed to improve. Sikura had the same scenario with the Blackhawks, but a poor training camp put him in Rockford instead of Chicago. And Stevens is in San Antonio, Texas, with the Blues’ top farm club.
It’s why there’s no sense of entitlement with the 22-yearold Gaudette. His 30 goals and 60 NCAA points last season speak to eventually playing a bigger role. But not now. There’re too much to digest.
“It definitely hasn’t been easy — it’s been tough,” admitted Gaudette, who had one assist in his first dozen NHL games. “But the best way for me to learn is to be thrown right into the fire and figure it out for myself. It forces you to be sharper and more attentive and I’m feeling better every game.”
It has been a methodical and encouraging progression. Gaudette went from a wideeyed newcomer last spring to somebody with a better spring in his step and better awareness to make sure he’s not a defensive liability.
“It’s just the quickness here and not necessarily the speed,” added Gaudette. “It’s getting pucks and getting on guys. If you let a guy go for a split second in the D-zone, that could be the one putting the puck in. But I think I’ve addressed it well and I’m more comfortable with the systems.
“It’s better compared to my first five games last year. I remember in my first shift, I got tossed pretty well by Darnell Nurse. Now I feel comfortable going into corners and using my body to win battles.”
Gaudette’s willingness to leave it all on the ice has impressed Canucks coach Travis Green. He sees a guy who gets it and knows everything has to be earned. Individual trophies look nice on a shelf but they don’t mean anything on the ice.
“He has taken a step,” said Green. “He feels more confident to hang on to a puck and push back on a guy. He works and he gives you everything he has, which, as a coach, goes a long way.
“When you know the guy is selling out every shift, that’s a lot of the things we talk about as a group in how we want to play. When your efforts are there every shift, that’s really the first step in playing that way, and he does it.”
With Brandon Sutter lost from four to six weeks with a separated right shoulder, the Canucks will be hard pressed to be better in the faceoff circle, especially in the defensive zone. Bo Horvat will shoulder a bigger load, but Gaudette will need to contribute. His faceoff efficiency in limited exposure has gone from 20 to 67 per cent.
“I work with Manny (assistant coach Malhotra) every day and what he stresses the most is one motion and do the same thing every time — don’t worry about what anybody else is doing,” stressed Gaudette. “Some games I get into that rhythm quick, but if you don’t, it gets in your head and you starting thinking a little bit.”
Gaudette never questioned his road to the NHL. Northeastern doesn’t get the notoriety or coverage that Boston College and Boston University are afforded.
“It’s a real blue-collar mindset, especially when you’ve got BU and BC as more of the praised teams in Boston,” he said. “It’s kind of nice because we were always the underdogs and came through and took it to heart playing there. We never gave up.”