Quotes of the Day: Mete & Ouellet

MONTREAL - Victor Mete and Xavier Ouellet each signed contracts with the Habs on the opening day of free agency, with Mete inking a one-year, one-way pact and Ouellet signing on for two years on a two-way deal.
The Habs duo met the media via Zoom on Saturday. Read on for highlights from their respective Zoom calls.

Mete on his plans to use his one-year deal as an opportunity:
"My agent came back to me with a couple of things, but I thought one year was probably the best for me going into next season, to give myself an extra year to kind of prove myself hopefully. With this weird upcoming season, we'll see what happens. I'll approach the offseason the same way. Obviously we don't know when it's going to start, so I know it's a little weird. I think going into camp it'll be fun. There will be a lot of competition, so it'll be good."

Mete on his relationship with newly-signed forward Josh Anderson, who inked a seven-year deal with the Habs on Thursday night. Anderson played for the OHL's London Knights from 2011-12 to 2013-14 while Mete was a member of the Knights just after Anderson, from 2014-15 to 2016-17.
"He's a little bit older than me. I played with his brother in London for about half a season. So I kind of know him a little bit because we have the same agent. I think he's a really good addition. He's a power forward who can score and he's also fast. He kind of has the whole package, so I think it'd be great for us."
On what he learned during the NHL Pause and how he'll use those lessons to prepare for the 2020-21 season:
"I learned that you have to really stay focused because obviously there was a lot of time there where you weren't able to work out or go on the ice and stuff like that. Obviously for me, I had a pretty bad injury that I had to rehab during the whole quarantine, so for me, the break was actually kind of good just so I could strengthen up my ankle a bit. But I learned that focus is huge because you have to stay prepared and stay ready."

Ouellet's reaction to signing a two-year, two-way deal with the Canadiens:
"Firstly, we're happy to be staying in the Canadiens organization. To be able to stay in Montreal was something that carried a lot of value for us. On the hockey side of things, I really like the direction the team is headed right now, with that winning mentality. For those two reasons, I wanted to stay home and continue playing for this organization."

On if the arrival of Joel Edmundson and Alexander Romanov following his solid playoff performance will motivate him to prove himself heading into 2020-21:
"Yes, for sure. My mentality doesn't change. I want to be in the NHL, I want to be in Montreal, and I want to help the organization. The team was winning games and having success. I'll come into camp with the same mentality I've had in previous years. Nothing changes. I think competition is healthy. It's good for the team and it brings out the best in everyone. My job is to be ready and to do what I need to do and from there, we'll just see what happens."
Named captain of the Laval Rocket in February 2019, Ouellet outlined the balance he strikes between working on his game and providing some mentorship to the young players on the Habs' AHL affiliate:
"Focus on my game. That's what I did all year long: try to improve and look out for the little details in my game that could give me the chance to get back to the NHL. That's my main focus. Obviously, to win games too, we play to win. That's part of my personality. To be a mentor, I think I lead by example. I'm not a guy who's going to talk a lot or try to say the right things. I'm just going to do what needs to be done; that's how I like to lead."