Trevor Linden on who he is excited to watch: “The one guy that we’ve all [waited for] is Thatcher Demko. We drafted him three years ago and he’s finally here. Olli Juolevi would be part of that as well. One guy that I’m interested in, because I’ve seen him all summer, is Troy Stecher. He’s an outstanding kid, great character, and played three years in college. I’ve told him and (Michael) Garteig that the pressure is on because they are Penticton Vees alum.”

Linden on the fourth-best prospect: “I think probably you might go to Brisebois, you might go to Subban, you may look at Stecher, and even see where Cassels is. He had a couple summers where he had no ability to train, he had a challenging year last year with the speed and physicality. He had a great summer from a fitness standpoint. We always felt he’d be a 3rd-line guy. He still has that ability. He had a great summer and hopefully it will pay dividends for him”

Linden on Jordan Subban: “It’s not uncommon [to see a professional play in this tournament]. We’ve had other players play at the pro level, that’s a common thing. He had a real good year last year offensively. He’s understanding where he has to be on the defensive side of things, and bringing that consistency and work level to practice and his professional habits. He took a big step last year. He’s a committed kid and hard worker.” 

Linden on Subban potentially playing NHL games this season: “It’s hard to say where he is in the whole spectrum. I think one thing that people get caught up in is looking at offensive statistics – which is great, which is there. I think there’s a whole other piece of the puzzle that people need to understand to play defense at the NHL level. When you’re undersized, you need to figure out how to defend. Jordan has done a good job with that, he’s taken a big step at the AHL level and he’s in year two. He’s got a great opportunity to show well here at training camp, and we’ll see where he is.”

Linden on Cole Candella: “He was an interesting situation. He broke his wrist twice last year. It was a bone, it wasn’t the scaphoid or anything like that. It was a real freak situation. We had some guys see him early in the season, and we talked, at mid-term, about how much we liked him. We didn’t see him in the second half. He’s a big kid and he skates well.”

Linden: “When I think about our group up front, I actually think it can maybe be a positive. Without Daniel and Henrik and Loui, who are going to be top-line players and power play guys, it actually gives the guys beneath them a greater opportunity. We’re going to see a lot of Anton Rodin, and Jake, and Bo, and Sven. It’s an opportunity for Emerson Etem, Granlund, and these guys to play meaningful minutes in the pre-season. The top group will come back and just walk into it. [Sbisa being away] is probably a bigger concern than the guys up front. We definitely have questions up front, we needs some people to step forward. Is it Rodin, is it Virtanen, is it Etem? Where are these guys going to be moving forward? A guy like Brendan Gaunce is going to get a greater opportunity in the pre-season. This guy works his tail off every summer. Even a kid like Ashton Sautner, who played his first year in the AHL. We sent him down last year and he was a skinny boy, but he comes back this year and you see the amount of work he’s put in. He’s just, physically, a different kid.”