Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper is thrilled with his team’s 13-4-2 record and is especially impressed with how two of his youngsters are evolving as pros.
Nikita Kucherov has burst onto the scene with seven goals, nine assists in 19 games in his sophomore season following an inconsistent rookie year.
“He started pretty quick with us [last season] and then he started going through the NHL growing pains—which side of the puck he has to be on, how he’s got to backcheck and how hard he has to play away from the puck and all those things that go on with youth,” Cooper told Hockey Central at Noon on Sportsnet 590 The Fan Tuesday.
“It was a little bit of tough love last year, but it is completely paying off this year because he’s been so much more responsible and now he’s being rewarded with ice time. I always believe if you take care of your end, the offensive end will always take care of itself because, instinctually, that’s what those guys do best.”
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Cooper said rookie Jonathan Drouin finds himself in a similar situation to the one Kucherov found himself in last season.
“He’s just learning the NHL, and I mean that in the most respectful way. Even for me as a coach, I had to learn the NHL,” said Cooper, who is in his second full season in the NHL after being named head coach late in 2012-13. “These guys that come up and their whole life they’re offensive players, they really can catch your eye because they’re gifted in that regard [but they have to round out their game].”
Drouin has one goal and seven assists in 13 games this season while averaging just 13:57 per game. The third-overall pick from the 2013 NHL Draft was demoted to a bottom-six role and was a healthy scratch Saturday against the New York Islanders.
However, Cooper explained that Drouin’s lack of playing time is not a form of punishment, rather a reflection of of deep the Lightning’s roster is.
“He’s a gifted talent and he’s going to be a really good player in this league. And right now he’s a really good player; we just have a lot of forward depth,” Cooper explained. “That’s one thing that’s been great about our team is everybody’s accepting that we’ve got a really great group of guys and one guy may have to sit out one night and he’s back in the next [game].
“Every time he makes a mistake he’s in the video room, he wants to learn, he gets back out and he does it better the next time. That’s what you want to see in a player. His only deficiency is he’s 19 years old and he hasn’t played in the league [long]. With every game rep, he’s going to get better and better and better. I’m really happy we have him.”
