“I was having lunch with a buddy and then someone kind of sent me something that there was a potential of me moving. Then at 2 o'clock rolled aroun I heard I was traded. But I didn't specifically know the team. Eventually got a call and found out. There was like 20 minutes where I was traded but didn't know what team. It was just a weird feeling that you know you're leaving... But you don't know where you're going. Definitely I was pretty pumped up when I heard about coming to Montreal. Obviously it's a pretty special place... Since the news kind of broke I called both of my brothers at the same time. Just to be fair I guess. I wasn't trying to favour one of them.”
“I've been here a little bit and I've heard it's a great place to live. A lot of things to do... A lot of restaurants. I kind consider myself a foodie a bit. Love to kind of venture off and try new restaurants. Things like that. That's something I was kind of indulge in while I'm here. The hockey culture. I'm coming from Minnesota hockey is pretty crazy there. Growing up in youth hockey, high school hockey and college. Coming here it's even a step up and something I was looking forward to... I felt like the opportunity was good to be here for me... I was looking forward to getting the ball rolling. I was trying to go out there and play. There's a few tweaks in the way they do things here defensively a little bit in the neutral zone. But that's something that just kind of comes over time. It starts with good habits and trying to do it day in and day out. Eventually, it becomes second nature.”
“I think my father went to a training camp here and he obviously got drafted. He told me some stories back in the day some of the guys that were here. Some pretty big name that I'm pretty sure he mentioned. Pretty cool to kind of hear that out of his mouth. Basically, he kind of hyped up just how big Montreal is. And how big the hockey culture is here...”
“I got some texts from some former teammates back home when I scored my first goal with the Montreal Canadiens. Zach Parise texted me and Alex Stalock. Guys like that and my closest buddies messaged me too. It's always good when they're being supportive and changing their schedule just to watch me because we're close friends. They just wanted to check in on me and make sure things are going well. Everyone was kind of chiming in on that... My younger sister Caitlin was sleeping. So I got a text from her this morning at like 6:00 AM. I wasn't awake yet... But, they all watch the games. My dad has a little den back home. He's really Irish... So there are a lot of Irish things in there and a lot of old sticks we used. There are also pictures of us three boys in high school and college together. Some other pucks as well. When I'm back home, I'll always stroll around there... Every once in a while, you're just looking around the room and seeing a lot of cool things. So it definitely got there this puck...”
“It's great when my parents came. They love it here. They love the atmosphere and they love the city. The reviews they're bringing back to Minnesota are pretty positive and they're definitely kind of spreading the word that people should come up and visit.”
“Kind of offensive defenseman. Definitely more of a two-way defenseman than one-way. Kind of structure the Minnesota Wild play. You've got to play defense and try to close on guys. Pick gaps. I kind of get labeled as that. It doesn't really bother me... It's just you know constant improvement every single day in terms of my own end. I defend in a different way than maybe Ryan Suter defends. I like to use my speed and make passes up to the forwards . Just from what I've seen from the first practice, it seems like there were a lot of skilled guys here. Like to try to use my skating to the best of my ability. Be that fourth guy into the rush... Be able to make plays. Get the puck up to those skilled forwards. We had a lot of skilled forwards this year. A guy like me, I love playing with guys like that. Guys that can hit the fourth guy coming in late and make plays and be creative. I'm not the most physical guy but I tried to get away with my skating. Things like tight gaps and a good stick. I've an underrated shot too.”
“There were some times in Minnesota when it was really tough. But it helped me grow up and face some adversity that I didn't know would possibly come. They've been so supportive of me and they've always known that I had it in me to play a big role somewhere else... It just so happens that I went with Montreal and I was just trying to rolling with it and making the most of it.”
“People started to catch on. It was evident in camp right off the hop the speed that we started with at the beginning of camp. It was nothing really new inside the dressing room... A lot more teams takes notice of a lot of the high-end speed we had up front and the guys that could make plays and being creative. The guys we added this summer made a lot of jobs easier in the dressing room. I loved playing like that... Adding Max Domi last summer and Tomas Tatar, I was always itching to get on the ice with those guys. Like hen we were playing 5 on 5 and 4 on 4. Because I knew they're going to try to find me and I'll try to find them and they can make plays. The way the League is going, we needed guys like that to be our top guys.”
“I was well aware when I got traded that it was going to be a good situation for me. I think it went well at the beginning. The only thing I wanted to do was to try to carry that momentum over from last season to this end of season. Keep it rolling and on a lot of things. It was definitely shock after tho... Turning the page... I definitely could be better... I felt like I could help this PP and get it where it needs to be. I wanted to make a good first impression... I wasn't gonna sit there and blaming the team effort. I've done some good things... I didn't know when the next time I was gonna to get back in. But every next time I had, I tried to raise my game and just be at another level... I thought I could be a big help for this team... I wanted to get back to the way I was playing at the start of the 2018/ 2019 season. How I can respond to it was the biggest thing. That was the most important... I wanted to help this team out... I wanted to be a part of it because it's a fun group of guys, we were winning back then... I thought they playing my style here that suits me well. I loved playing with our forwards and just the pace we played at. Coming in and out of the lineup, that wasn't easy. I don't care, I know you're playing at the highest level in the world... But we're human and we want to be the guys in the lineup every single night... Like playing in more situations and having the puck on my stick more. When you rely on people like that, it's definitely special how supportive they were for me...”