"There's a lot of the narrative out there, but he's just a big kid having fun playing hockey," captain Jacob Trouba said. "That's what we see in the locker room: The smiles. I guess (the media) sees it a little bit in the interviews − just his attitude, how grateful he is to be in this position and play hockey, his story, everything that goes into who he is.
"We have a ton of respect for him in our room. I think the players love him. He's been a big part of our team, a big part of momentum, a big part of just the attitude and the energy around the Rangers recently. That's a lot to carry for someone like him, but I think he's done a great job of it. He plays hard. He's a guy that I'll take on my team any day of the week. I think you'll hear every guy in the room say that."
The Blueshirts' 6-foot-8 forward believes his thundering hit on Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk was \
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