Over the past couple seasons, Russell's possession numbers haven't been strong. Ruff said he isn't concerned with those numbers and believes they will improve because of the style of game the Stars play.
"If I looked at Calgary's possession numbers from last year, they're right at the bottom," Ruff said. "I think that's a team thing. You throw him inside of our [team] and you see what the numbers look like. There's a certain way I'm going to want him to play. I think he's capable of playing that way. I think those numbers should be better. I think sometimes when the table is tipped and the possession numbers as a team are that bad, there's not many players that can push above and have an individual good possession number."
With the stretch run of the regular season and push to the playoffs in full swing, Russell's focus in the short term will be to acclimate to his new teammates in Dallas and become comfortable in his new surroundings.
"I've been on a few teams," Russell said. "NHL players are easy, a great group of guys. Meeting the guys here today, they seem like an awesome group, so it should be pretty easy."
Russell doesn't know what his future holds beyond the rest of this season. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but said his job now is to not focus on that and help the Stars try to compete for the Stanley Cup.
"I'm playing for the Dallas Stars, so that's my main focus is to help them win," Russell said. "I'm not looking past that. Each day, I'm going to take it and try and keep getting better and work hard."
