Say What - 'Opportunity For A Lot Of Players'

Ryan Huska on his defensive pairings tonight:

“We know how we’re going to start with them, whether they stay the same we’re not totally sure yet. Some of that is going to be a bit of moving pieces until we kind of get ourselves into a bit of a rhythm back there. But we do have a pretty good idea how we’re going to start.”

On reaction of team to Noah Hanifin trade:

“If it was something that was a surprise and came out of the blue it would be a little different situation. As we’ve talked about many times, this has been an ongoing theme for our team all year, and I feel like our guys have been really resilient; they’ve hardened a little bit when it comes to all the stuff that’s come along with the way our season’s been away from the rink. So today, when you look at all the guys, they are in really good spirits today, not because they’re happy Noah’s gone or anything like that, they understand it and they get it now. I think because of the experience they’ve had all year it’s just another day for us that we have to focus on playing a good hockey game.”

On what he knows about newcomer Daniil Miromanov:

“Well, a fair bit actually. Andrew Doty – one of our video coaches – was in Henderson the last number of years so he has a pretty good handle on the type of player that he is. We know he has size, which is something that is important for us. We know he has some really good offensive instincts and he’s got a bomb of a shot, so another player we’re looking forward to having getting into the mix as soon as we can.”

Rasmus Andersson on Hanifin trade:

“First, we’re gonna miss the person Noah, right, great teammate, great guy, had a really good season, but you know it’s the NHL and if you have less than a year on your contract and you’re not in the playoff picture, it’s usually the reality and unfortunately we’ve lost two big pieces of our lineup in the last few days. But, ya, just got to stick with it.”

On players stepping up now:

“We all got to take a little bigger responsibility and there’s ice time up for grabs and players like Shilly, Pachal and those guys obviously gotta step up now, including me and Weegsie, too. It’ll be interesting and it’s an opportunity for a lot of players - you just got to grab ahold of it.”

Jakob Pelletier on Miromanov:

“My first year in junior, I played with him. First of all, he’s an unreal guy – he’s funny; had some fun with him. He’s an unreal player, to be honest. He’s got a wicked shot, he’s got good hands, and for a big guy I think he moves well, too. I haven’t seen him play in a while, though, now but back in junior I used to look at him and, I was like phew, this guy is really good.”

On moving forward as a team:

“You have to focus on the present and big game for us tonight.”

Blake Coleman on ‘what now’:

“Well, to me, it’s exciting. It’s an opportunity, it’s new faces, new guys are going to have opportunities in our lineup. Wouldn’t that be a great story if we went on a run and found a way into the playoffs here. You know, you lose some pretty key members of our team throughout the year and teams can either strengthen themselves through adversity like this or they can crumble and it can be a long rest of the season. So, I expect our locker-room will come together and find ways to claw out games and win. It may take a bit of an adjustment learning everybody’s new roles and things like that but the expectation here is still to win.”