I just spent 15 minutes finding this article, to bring light to the fact Arthur has been working like a very focused madman on his conditioning, strength and skating. I found the article I was looking for. Once you read what about 3 people have attested, you will not be able to question his work ethic...
Arty may never be that fast, but he has worked extremely hard at improving his leg strength, core strength and skating....it's like saying, Kopitar, "please work on becoming faster" It's not going to happen. He's actually getting slower and will be that way, no matter how hard he works, at this point.
And yet, I bet Arty could beat Kopi in a race, right now. Arty is what he is and that is an elite level prospect that will be a tremendous NHL player. His skating is fine and will not hold him back....just from going end to end or beating NHL defensemen in foot races...WHO CARES? He will beat opponents in 15 other ways and BEAT THEM SOUNDLY.
‘He’ll be one of the best players in the world’: Kings prospect Arthur Kaliyev is more than just a goal scorer" (from October 2019. Please know, 15 months later, he's achieved even a higher level)
Kaliyev’s work ethic has been most pronounced in the gym. Bulldogs strength and conditioning coach Justin Brooks, who has trained Kaliyev for three years, remembers the “immature body” he had at 16 — and the work he has done to grow into his 6-foot-2 frame.
After working in Los Angeles with Kings strength and conditioning coach Matt Price all summer,
(me interjecting here, this is Summer 2019 and Arty was again in LA all Summer 2020) Brooks saw another “noticeable change physically” when Kaliyev returned to Hamilton.
“I think that he has an incredibly high work ethic, especially when it comes to his desire to be better on the ice. Anybody who can score 50 goals in the OHL as a 17-year-old has a strong desire to compete and to work hard. The off-ice training and conditioning is something that has naturally evolved over the three years he’s been in Hamilton,” Brooks said.
In the handful of one-on-one sessions the pair have done together early on this season, Brooks has noticed a more mature Kaliyev.
“He really is conveying a very strong desire to improve this year physically, to take his game to a higher level and you can clearly see that he put more time in this offseason than in prior years,” Brooks said.
“I’m very excited to see what he can do this season and see where he can go. I think he’s going to surprise some people and turn some heads in the next few years and the early training sessions we’ve had this year have highlighted that a lot.”
Kalyiev said his months in Los Angeles helped him bulk up, measure himself side-by-side pros (he felt good about where he was at) and truly understand where he needs to get to.
“I try to just get stronger everywhere and get stronger and faster. I’m trying to fix it. (The Kings) just told me to round out my all-around game and play hard defensively. I think my playmaking is underrated. I like to make great plays too, not just shoot because everyone would know if I’m just trying to score every time. I try to disguise it.”
“His greatest improvement has just been his ability to protect the puck and create off the rush. He really started taking the puck into those critical scoring areas off the rush, he was able to protect pucks in small areas below the goal line and take pucks out to the front of the net,” Staios said.
“He can score in all different ways. It’s not just his shot. He’s a unique player that way. Offensively, he’s as good as they get.”
That skill development has been matched by his literal growth in the gym. These days, Kaliyev is playing above 190 pounds.
“Arthur, he’s a big kid. You can see that when you watch the game, you can see that he’s a tall kid. But he’s still developing,” Staios said.
“He works hard at it off the ice but every player the maturity seems to sink in at a certain time and Arthur is one of those guys who is a little bit late to that which is only another reason that I think the Kings should be excited about him because he’s only starting to form physically.”
It hasn’t just been about adding muscle, either. Brooks has worked with him to build his lower-body strength and improve his skating. Their focus, though, has been on his locomotion, his power outcomes and making him a better athlete. In the early days, he looked and played strong on the ice but there were a lot of areas where he needed to take strides forward.
“I think the biggest growth with Arthur has been everything from coordination, awareness of his body. His strength levels have increased drastically,” Brooks said.
“This year he should look to establish himself in a physical sense a lot more. We are training him to compete on the ice better but that’s largely by increasing his overall athleticism.”