I wasn't nervous about him going back to school or trying to force his way out, but it is always nice to have the certainty of a signature on the contract.
It will be interesting to see when he gets his first NHL game. I certainly wasn't expecting to still be on this winning streak when he signed and the momentum of that type of streak makes it hard to insert a new player barring injury necessity. From his perspective, it might not be the ideal timing to joint the team. But on the flipside, this win streak has created some breathing room and continuing the streak will further increase our playoff chances. At some point in the next couple weeks, we are either going to have the streak ended (and give the coach a reason to make a lineup tweak) or we're going to find ourselves comfortably in playoff position. Either way, he joins practice today and can start creating an on-ice impression with Monty.
I'm hoping we can get him into the game tomorrow or Thursday. I'd prefer a home game to manage matchups and I think Detroit and Pittsburgh are objectively easier matchups than the Colorado,
@winnipeg, and @Edmonton stretch we have after them.