Archives for July 10, 2017

‘”To be honest, I think for me the hands are the last thing to come back,” he said. “I’ve been skating back home so that helps. Especially wanting to come to camp not too rusty. The hands are the most important part of my game. When they come back is when I think I’m playing well.”‘

‘”I got a text from my agent and he said, ‘You’ve been drafted’ and I was like, ‘it’s the third round’ and he was like, ‘No, this is not fake,’ ” Laaksonen said. “I was like, “Oh my God, Oh my God.’ I run to my mother and hugged her. It was a special moment.”‘

‘Greg Royce had been in that role but was fired in April along with former GM Tim Murray. Head amateur scout Jeff Crisp, in his first year in Buffalo after 13 years in Anaheim, essentially filled in that role for the draft last month in Chicago. Crisp has now been promoted to assistant director of amateur scouting.’

‘”Summer training for players this age is critical,” said assistant GM Randy Sexton. “I’ve seen it happen in other development camps where you have these high-intensity scrimmages or practices. Kids are competitive by nature and now you’ve got five kids that are nursing injuries for 2-3 weeks. And that throws a serious wrench into their training regiments. So we need to be sure, back to helping these players becoming as good as they’re capable of them becoming, that it includes a strong summer of off-ice training.”‘