"Obviously making the team was the goal coming in," says Ness. "It's exciting; I've never done that out of any camp. To be a part of this team is really exciting and I'm looking forward to [Thursday night]."
Ness has 39 games worth of NHL experience accumulated over parts of four different seasons. The 27-year-old Minnesotan has taken advantage of a great opportunity to make the Caps' roster, now he takes aim on remaining here.
"I think it's a matter of never getting comfortable and continuing to try to outdo yourself every day," says Ness, "continue to one-up yourself and get better, and work on things. Don't take anything for granted. You can make this team just as fast as you can get sent down. It's a unique situation, and I'm just going to keep pushing as hard as I can every day and hopefully stay for a long time."
Up front, the new faces include offseason imports Alex Chiasson (free agent, Calgary last season), Tyler Graovac (trade from Minnesota) and Devante Smith-Pelly (free agent, New Jersey last season) along with Brett Connolly and youngster Jakub Vrana. Connolly was on the roster for last season's Caps opener, but not in the lineup. Vrana played 21 games with Washington as a rookie last season, but wasn't recalled from AHL Hershey until early December.
Trotz had praise for each of his three recent additions to the organization.
"He just played consistent," says Caps coach Barry Trotz of Chiasson. "He just played consistent right through. He is a very detailed guy, and he is a big body. I think he was able to find pucks in the interior, and there wasn't any aspect of his game where I could say, 'Hey, there is a big hole here.'
"I moved him up the lineup and he played with our top guys and was very productive. I moved him down the lineup, and he adjusted. He's a good pro. He is one of those guys who maybe gets overlooked because he doesn't look like he's the fastest skater, but he gets there. [With] that big frame and that big reach, strength on the puck and his detail and his attention on both sides of the puck, having a real good balance. He had 12 even-strength goals last year; that's in [Alex Ovechkin's neighborhood] in terms of five-on-five. That's pretty good. It's hard to score in this league when you don't get on the power play and don't play special teams. He was pretty consistent last year."
Graovac was a camp revelation, standing out with his size, speed, penalty killing prowess and some scoring touch, too.
"Gravo was a guy I virtually knew nothing about," says Trotz. "We saw him one game against us, but obviously Mac and our scouts identified him as someone who would qualify for the expansion draft. And he came in and made his mark, he was noticeable.
"It was one of the first training camps - other than my first year in Washington - where we went into camp saying, 'Hey, there is competition in spots. Eye your competition. Make sure you out-produce them, and make sure you outplay them every day and make a statement.' And he did. And by making that statement, a guy like Chandler Stephenson, a young guy we were thinking could probably take the next step, Gravo basically beat him out. And that was based on performance, and nothing else."
Smith-Pelly had a couple of goals and a couple of assists in the preseason, but his penalty killing acumen was also noteworthy, and he seems likely to see significant duty in that area this season.
"Just detail, good stick detail and good compete," says Trotz of Smith-Pelly's work on Washington's penalty killing outfit. "Some guys get the puck when they're penalty killing and they panic, and you don't get the clear and then you're in your end [of the ice]. He's been pretty efficient in some of those areas.
"With Devo, I didn't know much about him, either. Other than we see him a couple of times a year playing for the opposition the last couple of years, and he was out west for a few of years. It's been a learning experience for them and for us. The way we play and the way we practice versus what they're used to, and also us getting to know them. The personalities and the players, they've all fit in pretty well."
