TORONTO — When P-A Parenteau reflects on where things went wrong with the Montreal Canadiens last season, the first thing he mentions is the concussion.
The next is coach Michel Therrien.
“We didn’t see eye to eye and it wasn’t a great match,” Parenteau said this week in an interview.
That shouldn’t be much of an issue in Toronto. Even while surrounded by an uncertain stew of veteran forwards at Maple Leafs training camp — many on one-way contracts, a couple on tryouts — Parenteau remains confident that he’ll be put in a position to succeed because he has faith in coach Mike Babcock.
It was Babcock who was running the show at his first few NHL training camps with the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks more than a decade ago, and it was Babcock who helped sway Parenteau to sign a $1.5-million, one-year deal with the Leafs on July 1 after he was bought out by Montreal.
“I think he really appreciates me as a player,” said Parenteau. “I talked to him this summer when I signed with them and I could feel that.”
This is an extremely important campaign for a 32-year-old who knows a thing or two about the necessary intersection of role, expectations and opportunity.
Parenteau was originally a ninth-round draft pick by Anaheim who never earned a serious crack at the NHL until his seventh pro season. He then became a first-liner on Long Island, signed a nice free-agent deal in Denver and ultimately had that contract terminated after getting traded to Montreal and suffering through a forgettable injury-plagued year.
That he has come to Toronto and placed his trust in Babcock to help get things back on track comes with a little hint of irony.
“When we drafted him I never thought he’d play a day in the National Hockey League,” said the Leafs coach. “Just with the way he skated at that time. It just goes to show you when you’re real determined and you work hard — you know, he’s forged himself a good career here.
“He seems to be real hungry to prove everybody wrong (who doubted him) the last couple years, so that’s good for us.”
Parenteau is confident that he can return to being a productive offensive player, especially if he winds up claiming a top-six role with the Leafs.
While there is a danger in reading too much into exhibition games, he scored twice in Monday’s win over Ottawa while being used as the fourth forward on the top power-play unit. That’s a position where Parenteau will continue to be deployed.
It’s also worth remembering that he’s coming off a season where he saw a big dip in shooting percentage (11.8 per cent career, but only 8.2 per cent in 2014-15), which is a trend unlikely to continue. On top of that, he’s entering a contract year and will be counted on fairly heavily by a Leafs group that could be goal-deprived.
“I know what’s going to be my job on this team and it’s up to me to deliver now,” said Parenteau. “Hopefully I can produce early in the year and find myself a nice house here in Toronto.”
The biggest X-factor will be his health.
Parenteau missed almost two months last season with a concussion and lost his spot in the Canadiens lineup as a result, seeing a string of healthy scratches in March and again in the first round of the playoffs against Ottawa.
“I think it’s a little bit of unluckiness, I’d say, with injuries the last two years,” he said. “It was a rough time with Michel Therrien last year, we didn’t see with the same eye. But I’m turning the page, and I know what I can do, I’m only 32; I’m not 36 or 37.
“I feel great right now, I’m in great shape, and the fact that Babs knows what I can do (helps). I can be very useful to this hockey team and I know it.”
It’s clear that he still draws motivation from the fact that it didn’t turn out that way with the Habs.
Even though Parenteau wasn’t in Toronto’s lineup for Tuesday’s game at the Bell Centre, he knows his opportunity will arrive eventually.
“I’m looking forward to getting them when it counts,” he said with a smile.
