HAIL TO VIKTOR
AV, Rangers have praise for Stalberg
Viktor Stalberg was just halfway through his contract with the Predators when they let him go this summer, buying out the remainder of his deal. For Nashville, saving money was assured. Reviving Stalberg’s career was less certain.
Signed by the Predators to a fouryear, $12 million contract after winning a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013, Stalberg spent nearly as much of his second season with the Predators organization in the AHL (in Milwaukee) as the NHL, struggling with injuries and suffering through healthy scratches, seemingly unable to recapture the form of the 22goal scorer from the 201112 season.
This offseason, Stalberg signed a oneyear deal with the Rangers for $1.1 million, and saw the expectations he took to Tennessee stay there. For Alain Vigneault, the most disappointing season of Stalberg’s career may end up being the best thing to happen to his team.
Calling Stalberg one of the team’s most impressive players in training camp, the Rangers coach has been extremely pleased with the wing’s play in each of the five preseason games, saving particular praise for his determination.
“As a coach sometimes, and as an organization, you catch players at the right time,” Vigneault said following Tuesday’s practice. “And him, with what happened last year in Nashville, I’m catching him at a time where if he’s not hungry and he doesn’t play well, he’s not going to be very long in this league, so I think he knows that. He understands that and he’s come here to play.
“The player that I remember from Chicago is what I’m seeing now. For me, it’s not a surprise from that standpoint, but I figure he wasn’t playing the way he is now in Nashville, otherwise they would have kept him.”
For Stalberg, a new city allows the Swede to build a new reputation, rather than attempting to live up to one that never even existed.
“It’s an opportunity to start over a little bit and you don’t get too many chances like that, so I was excited when I got the opportunity to come here and obviously I want to make the most of it,” said Stalberg, who was drafted by the Maple Leafs in 2006. “In Nashville, it was a little different. I signed a different deal. Some stuff was expected of me and it didn’t really work out. I had some injuries and bad timing. That’s how things work out sometimes.
“There isn’t any pressure here for me to go in and be the leading scorer or anything like that. They have their top players that have been great and I’m looking to come in and be a piece of the puzzle and try and help out any way I can to reach the final goal.”
Heading into the Rangers’ final preseason game against the Bruins on Wednesday, Stalberg has fit well in Vigneault’s fastpaced system, enabling him to best utilize his speed and physicality, while allowing for opportunities to create offensively.
And having been on a championship team, Stalberg sees many of the same traits in his new teammates, who have come so close to the Cup over the past few years.
“Everyone here seems hungry and motivated,” Stalberg said. “We can’t look too much ahead, but we know we have a good team. … It reminds me a lot of the situation in Chicago when we had [Patrick] Kane and [Jonathan] Toews and all those guys and they revamped that organization. It’s pretty cool to see the similarities. Things worked out there and hopefully they will here, too.”