Prout embraces role as dark horse on blue line

This is Dalton Prout’s ninth National Hockey League training camp, first with the Calgary Flames and — like many — first that has officially begun in China.

The travel details alone are enough to make a player’s head spin, never mind trying to prove themselves in a foreign setting.

But to the 28-year-old rightshot defenceman, it’s simple.

“My mindset?” said the sixfoot-three, 230-pounder, who was part of the Eddie Lack trade to the New Jersey Devils last season. “I have a training-camp itinerary. I know where to be and when to be there and what to wear. And I don’t care who is around.

“I don’t care what dressing room I’m in. I don’t care what jersey I have.”

In other words, Prout is not here to make friends.

Yet, at least. “Absolutely,” said the former sixth-round 2010 draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets with a grin. “I treat everyone with respect. But with all due respect, and everyone can understand that going through the league and in NHL training camps, I don’t need a new friend until Oct. 6. I really don’t. I’m here. True professionals understand that that’s the mentality that’s going to make everyone in the dressing room better. So, if anyone doesn’t agree with that, I don’t want them on my team.”

Prout is one of eight defencemen that boarded a plane on Tuesday for China, where the Flames are set to play two exhibition games against the Boston Bruins. Read into it what you will — and Flames general manager Brad Treliving cautions anyone on doing so — but Prout’s presence on the roster is forcing competition, particularly in regard to the team’s third pairing.

Michael Stone, Rasmus Andersson and Brett Kulak are all in the same category. Having played 242 games in the NHL between the Blue Jackets and Devils, scoring six goals and 30 assists and racking up 306 penalty minutes along the way, Prout knows the situation he’s walking into.

“Being on this side of it, I’d say outside of a top-two D -man and maybe a top-six (forward), you’re interchangeable as the day is long,” said Prout, who re-upped with the Flames this summer and inked a one-year, one-way deal. “You’re here to win. You’re here to produce, you’re here to perform. I’ve been in this situation on the other side when you’ve had three coaches in four years. You’ve finished where you’ve missed the playoffs, there’s a certain expectation that needs to be brought in.

“When you don’t understand it at the NHL level and the results aren’t there, it’s a business. Until you’ve been through it and been kicked to the curb, you don’t understand how ruthless this league can be.”

Prout has a new-found “lease on life,” as he calls it, after playing a pile of minutes after the midseason swap saw him arrive in Stockton. Prout skated in 34 AHL games with two goals and seven assists and 42 penalty minutes. He spent the off-season training in Kingsville, Ont., and arrived to Calgary hungry.

“You’re so stimulated at camp,” Prout explained. “There’s high tension and high stress. You get your fitness testing. You’re meeting 20 new people. You’re trying to remember names. You are trying not to miss a workout. You can’t be late.”