CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - Frank Vatrano is used to fighting for his spot.
Undrafted out of University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2015, the undersized forward (he stands 5-foot-9 and 201 pounds) spent parts of four seasons bouncing between the AHL and NHL with the Boston Bruins before being traded to the Florida Panthers in late February.
Vatrano Q&A: 'You're trying to earn your job every single day'
After failing to gain a foothold as a regular in Boston's lineup, Vatrano went on to carve out a role for himself almost immediately with the Panthers. Seeing time on the second, third and fourth lines, the 24-year-old recorded five goals and three assists in 16 games after the trade.
But entering this year's training camp, his spot on the roster wasn't set in stone.
With one of the league's best top-six forwards groups already set in place, and with a wealth of other forwards fighting for just a handful of spots in the bottom-six, Vatrano had to prove himself to the Panthers once again. But after a solid showing in the preseason, including a power play goal against the Lighting in Orlando on Sept. 27, it quickly became clear that he belonged.
"He was one of those guys that was in that group of guys that I was waiting to see something from out of the box," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "He played well and had some good games. He scored in Orlando on the power play, and that's what he does.
"He takes advantage of his chances. He adds a little bit of speed to that third line. He's earned the opportunity to start there. The key for him is to keep going and stay there. I've said since day one that I want our third line to be more into the offense this year."
After being named to Florida's initial 23-man roster on Wednesday morning, Vatrano sat down with FloridaPanthers.com's Jameson Olive at the Panthers IceDen to discuss his expectations for the upcoming season and how he plans to take advantage of his latest NHL opportunity.
OLIVE: For yourself, what does it mean to start the season on the third line?
VATRANO:It's the position that I thought I was going to be in when I came into training camp. I knew there was competition for that spot, but for me it was about trying to keep my job. I've been playing in the league for, well, not too long, but a pretty long time, so I know what it takes to stick around and what you need to do night in and night out to stay in the lineup.
OLIVE: What do you hope to bring to that line?
VATRANO: I'm just trying to bring energy to that line, trying to score goals and just create space for my teammates. I'm playing with two pretty good guys in Jared McCann and Denis Malgin. I think we can get some chemistry going.
OLIVE: Boughner said he wants that line to be very fast and offensive this season. How excited are you to execute that directive given that it really seems to match your skillset?
VATRANO: It's nice that they want you to have the room to score goals, but at the end of the day you're playing a bottom-six role. You're trying to score goals and not get scored on. The biggest thing is to keep the puck out of our own net and keep putting pucks in theirs, and then go from there. We've got to pay attention to the details in practice to make sure we're in the right spots. When you play good defense, that's when the offense comes.
OLIVE: Whether it was due to injuries or healthy scratches, the most NHL games you've played in a season thus far is 44. When you think about your personal goals entering this season, how much of that is becoming a guy that can play 82 games?
VATRANO: Unfortunately, I've had a couple injuries to deal with over the years. There was one right at the beginning of my first training camp, so I got set back. And then, my first year I was obviously up and down and out of the lineup with the younger group they had coming up in Boston. For me, to go to a team that had hopes for me and wanted me to have some effect on the lineup was great. I was excited to come to Florida. I'm just trying to build on what I started at the end of last year, to take my game to another step. Now that I'm more comfortable with these guys, I think I can be even better than I was last year.
OLIVE: Even though you were coming off an injury, you had no trouble hitting the ground running when you arrived in Florida. In your mind, what made this team such a good fit?
VATRANO:The management and coaches had a belief in me, in the kind of player I was. They let me do what I do. Obviously, I was fortunate enough to play with some great guys when I got here. Playing with Troch [Vincent Trocheck] and Huby [Jonathan Huberdeau], they make the game a lot easier on you. I also played in the bottom-six, with some games on the fourth line and some games on the third line. Those guys were also great to play with.
OLIVE: After that strong showing, did you think you'd be fighting for a starting job at this year's training camp?
VATRANO:Whether you're in a top-six spot, a bottom-six role or out of the lineup, you're trying to earn your job every single day. You can't take any days off. For me, ever since I became a pro - no matter where I've been - I've just wanted to prove that I'm out there for a reason. I don't want to be a guy who will play a good game and then be invisible for the next five. Once you've been around for a little bit, you know what you need to do to stay in the lineup. I think I've started to figure that out now.
OLIVE: Does that fight-for-every-inch mentality stem from going undrafted?
VATRANO: I think everything you get, you earn. Even if you get drafted first overall, you've earned that for a reason. For me, obviously I was passed up by some teams. I was just trying to earn a job somewhere. Being in college, my dream was to play in the NHL. I was fortunate enough that Boston took a chance on me. I'm grateful for the opportunity they gave me to play in the NHL, but obviously things didn't work out in the long run. But now I'm here in Florida. I'm comfortable here and I love it here. Hopefully I'm here for many years to come.
OLIVE: Speaking of the years to come, how exciting is it to be a part of this young team, especially after last season's incredible second-half and a oh-so-close 96-point finish.
VATRANO: I think we've got a great group of core guys. From the backend, to our goaltending to our forwards, we've got a young group of guys who have kind of come up together and been through some adversity, especially last year. They've got that bitter taste in their mouths, and so do I. We want to make the playoffs and go on a [Stanley] Cup run every single year.
