As long as John Tavares didn’t step onto the ice yesterday with his skate laces tied together, he was likely to impress in his first day as an Islander.
With the team’s recent woes, that possibility couldn’t be completely discounted.
The top overall pick made it through his entry into the NHL unscathed, and showed some of the skills that made him so sought after.
“I just want to prove that I can be successful at this level,” the 18-year-old said after the first day of minicamp at the team’s practice facility in Syosset in front of dozens of fans — many of whom already were wearing his No. 91 jersey. “I’m a humble guy and I don’t want to be treated differently than anybody else. I have to earn everything.”
For a team that finished with the worst record in the league this past season, the Isles hope he starts doing that soon.
“It kind of takes away that black cloud that was over our team last year with what we went through with injuries and all that,” coach Scott Gordon said. “We’re moving forward.”
With Tavares perhaps leading the way.
“He is 18 years old and it can go two ways,” Gordon said. “It can go like [Sidney] Crosby, who immediately had a splash as the first pick overall [for Pittsburgh]. Steve Stamkos, it took him about half a year [for Tampa Bay]. You can’t predict what it’s gonna be.”
Tavares’ teammate in juniors, Calvin de Haan, whom the Isles traded up twice to draft at No. 12, is glad to be with Tavares again.
“He makes you a better player,” said the defenseman, who collided with Tavares during a drill yesterday. “He’ll put the puck in the net no matter what’s going on.”
And as for criticism that Tavares isn’t that good a skater?
“Once he gets going, he’s fine,” de Haan said. “But he makes up for it in other ways, like with his stick-handling and the way he scores goals. It’s not that he’s a bad skater. He’s very agile.”
De Haan also has seen Tavares deal with pressure before.
“It’s always been, ‘John this and John that,’ ” he said. “He handles it well. He’s not the most talkative guy, but his actions speak louder than words. He’s always the last one off the ice.”