Whenever a young prospect from Europe comes over to North America, there's always talk about how the player will adjust -- the rink sizes are different, the speed of the game is faster, the style of play is different.
Defenseman Stefan Elliott had to make that adjustment in the first part of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's season. He's not some European kid taking his first crack at North American hockey, though. The 27-year-old Vancouver native has 84 games of NHL experience and 244 games of AHL experience under his belt.
Elliott spent the past two seasons in Europe -- first with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL, and then with HV71 of the SHL. This is his first season back in North America, and he's becoming more comfortable each day as he gets reacquainted with the different style of play.
"I think the more games you have, the more you get used to it, and the more you don't even really notice it," Elliott told me this week of returning to North America. "I think you just have to be ready because things happen a lot faster. Guys forecheck hard and you've got to be ready to go back hard for pucks and make quick plays and things like that."
Elliott was a second-round pick of the Avalanche back in 2009. For his first three professional seasons, he split time pretty evenly between the NHL and AHL, until he eventually started seeing much more AHL time each season than NHL time. In his last NHL season, in 2015-16, he was in his first year with the Coyotes organization. In January, the Coyotes traded Elliott to the Predators in the three-team John Scott trade. Elliott spent all but two games of the remainder of the season in the AHL.
Elliott needed a fresh start.
For a player like Elliott, moving to Russia offers a lot of benefits. The opportunity to see a new part of the world and learn a new culture, a higher salary, and the opportunity to take on a significant role in a top league. When Elliott elected to stay in Europe and sign in Sweden for 2017-18, there was an added benefit -- the Olympics.
In the 2017-18 season, with NHL players ineligible to play for their country, many borderline players deliberately signed elsewhere to maintain their eligibility for the Olympics, as with Wilkes-Barre's Christian Thomas that season. The possibility of cracking Team Canada's Olympic roster weighed on Elliott's mind.
"When I went to Sweden that year I definitely knew the Olympics was a possibility," Elliott said. "I didn't know if I was going to make the team or not but if I did stay in Europe I would have an opportunity, and if I did make it it would be pretty special to be a a part of that."
Elliott's gamble paid off, and he made the team. He represented his country in two games as Canada won Bronze in Pyeongchang.
"It was unlike anything," Elliott said of the experience. "That's one thing when I was growing up playing hockey, it was playing in the NHL and it was playing in the Olympics for Team Canada. When I got that call that said I was going to be on the team, it was honestly a dream come true."
Being an Olympian was naturally a massive confidence boost for Elliott. Not just because of the medal he took home, but because of his company in the Olympic Village. The top athletes in the world were all there, and he was in their company.
After two years, Elliott was ready to return to North America and "give it another shot, see what happens." His goal is still to play make the NHL. When he signed an NHL contract with the Penguins over the summer, he knew it was a good fit. He had another 'fresh start'.
Elliott, at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, is a sizable, two-way defenseman. Pittsburgh loves its puck-moving defensemen playing in the system, and Elliott prides himself in his puck-moving abilities.
"I like to jump up in the rush, be a second wave of attack, he said. "Whether it's carrying the puck up or making good passes, or creating some offense and some confusion in the offensive zone for the other team."
Elliott has shown flashes of his playmaking ability, and has recorded five assists in his 10 games. At times, he's quarterbacked Wilkes-Barre's power play. As he's grown more comfortable this season, he's become stronger defensively, too. Last week, he showed a great individual effort against the Bears, chasing down Shane Gersich to prevent a scoring opportunity, and subsequently blocking the shot when Gersich got a second crack at the puck:
This week put Elliott in a tough spot. The AHL has a veteran rule, and limits teams to five veterans (players with fewer than 260 games of professional experience) in a team's lineup. The Penguins have spent the season with the maximum five, Elliott included. With defenseman Kevin Czuczman returning to the lineup, another veteran had to sit.
Elliott drew the short straw on Friday, though he did appear in Saturday and Sunday's games. Going forward, Wilkes-Barre will rotate the veteran defenseman who must sit. Elliott will likely miss a handful of games moving forward, and not necessarily because of his performance being lacking. He's a victim of the numbers. Still, he isn't discouraged by his situation.
"It's a tough spot to be in, one no one wants to be in," Elliott said. "It's something that you can't really control. As hard as it is, you just have to try to not think about it and just control what you can control when you're out there playing. You play your best and you make sure you're out there working and playing to the best of your ability."
It's not like Elliott needed the extra motivation -- he's not too far down on the depth chart if Pittsburgh ever needs to recall a defenseman. He's a right-handed shot, one of only three right-handed defensemen on Wilkes-Barre. That gives him a little edge.
Don't be surprised if Elliott ends up in a Pittsburgh uniform for a few games later in the season.
MORE FROM WILKES-BARRE
• Nov. 2: vs. Hartford, 5-3 win
• Nov. 3: vs. Hartford, 3-2 loss
• Nov. 4: at Bridgeport, 8-5 loss
• As mentioned above, Czuczman returned to the lineup for the first time this season on Friday. Czuczman had offseason shoulder surgery and was said by Mike Sullivan at training camp to be out of commission until December. Czuczman returned to game action a month early, but he had been practicing in Wilkes-Barre for quite some time.
• The veterans on the roster are defensemen Elliott, Czuczman, Zach Trotman, Will O'Neill, Chris Summers, Tim Erixon and forward Jimmy Hayes. All can be on the roster, but only five are allowed to dress in each game. Erixon is on a tryout deal and hasn't played in any games yet this season, so he's an easy scratch. The other scratched veteran defenseman will be rotated.
• Ryan Haggerty also returned to the Penguins' lineup on Friday after being out since Oct. 13. It was thought that he scored in Saturday's game, but it was decided after the game that Sam Lafferty had gotten a tip on Haggerty's shot, and he was credited with the goal. Haggerty only has one assist in six games this season, a surprising development after his production last season.
• Sam Miletic was injured last week, and is still week-to-week.
• Pittsburgh skills development coach Ty Hennes was in town last week to work with Wilkes-Barre players. Having a special development coach who just focuses on skating and skill work isn't common around the league, and the Wilkes-Barre players enjoyed the experience of working with him. Play-by-play man and Media Relations Director Nick Hart wrote this feature on Hennes' visit.
“We love having him any time we can get him down here,” Ethan Prow told Hart. “He brings a little freshness to the game for us, and that’s the kind of stuff everybody wants to work on. It’s not every day you get to out there with an expert to work on your hands, your edges, some of the little aspects of the game.”
• Center Jarrett Burton played his first game of the season on Friday, and quickly showed that he belonged in the lineup, and played in all three games. Burton plays a strong two-way game, and is a faceoff specialist. His defensive play stood out on Friday, and he forced the turnover that led to Tobias Lindberg's goal on Friday:
• Tristan Jarry played in all three games this weekend. He started on Friday, and had a strong showing, making 30 saves on 33 shots. On Saturday, he made 21 saves on 24 shots. Anthony Peters made the start on Sunday, but allowed four goals on 10 shots in 20 minutes and was pulled after the first period. Jarry played the remainder of the game, and stopped 16 of 20 shots.
• Jarry nearly scored a goal on Friday. In the final two minutes of regulation, with Wilkes-Barre up by two, Hartford pulled the goalie. The puck came back to Jarry after the faceoff and he took the shot. Hartford's goaltender wasn't quite off the ice yet, and threw his stick in the direction of the puck.
Typically, when a stick is thrown in this manner to stop a shot like this, it results in a penalty shot. And, typically, when the goaltender is pulled, since it doesn't make sense to actually go through with the penalty shot, the rule is that a goal is automatically awarded. So, the official initially signaled that Jarry was awarded a goal. After a discussion, the goal was rescinded because the AHL rule book stipulates that "the goalkeeper is considered off the ice once the replacement player has entered the playing surface." Alas, an automatic goal could not be awarded and instead the goaltender was just given a penalty.
• Sunday's game, albeit ending in an 8-5 loss for Wilkes-Barre, had some bright spots. Zach Aston-Reese recorded the first hat trick of his professional career, and Garrett Wilson scored two goals of his own. Both players are tied for the team-lead in goals, with six.
The comeback effort was also somewhat encouraging. Two minutes into the third period, Wilkes-Barre trailed 7-1. They scored four goals in the third period, but the rally fell short.
• Wilson was undoubtedly one of the stars of the week. The captain had three goals and an assist, and he impressed in ways that didn't show up on the scoresheet as well. He showed a lot of physicality, especially on Saturday:
Wilson came close to scoring another goal on Saturday. While he was ultimately stopped, his work in forcing a turnover and creating a breakaway chance for himself should be recognized:
• Lines and defense pairings from Sunday:
Garrett Wilson - Linus Olund - Jimmy Hayes
Zach Aston-Reese - Sam Lafferty - Ryan Haggerty
Adam Johnson - Teddy Blueger - Anthony Angello
Thomas Di Pauli - Jarrett Burton - Tobias Lindberg
Chris Summers - Stefan Elliott
Kevin Czuczman - Zach Trotman
Jeff Taylor - Ethan Prow
• After this week, the Penguins have a record of 6-4-0-1. They rank fourth in the Atlantic Division, dropping one spot. The power play rose to 20 percent, and the penalty kill fell to 80 percent.
• The Penguins will have their second three-in-three of the season next week. They'll visit the Providence Bruins (3-7-1) on Friday, the Hartford Wolf Pack (5-7-1-1) on Saturday, then head back to Providence on Sunday.
GOALS OF THE WEEK
Each of Wilson's goals this week came from his work in front of the net:
Don't blink, or you'll miss Anthony Angello's shot. Sort of like Hartford's goaltender did:
Trotman has quite a bit of power behind his shot as well:
Sam Lafferty is someone Penguins management is very high on, and for good reason. He's a physical, fast player, and he has some moves:
WILKES-BARRE FUN THING
I love Hayes' strategy for watching scary movies:
#WBSPens forward @Jimmy10Hayes isn't afraid of Jigsaw....as long as it's light out. Check out what our players think of scary movies, and have a #HappyHalloween - #WBS20 pic.twitter.com/gh7YUJQaUB
— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) October 31, 2018