Sens head coach D.J. Smith on Cirelli, who he coached in Oshawa:
"He plays the same way now as he did then. He stays on every puck, he outworks people, he drags you into the battle, he never takes a game off. He's made the NHL by doing that every single game. When you watch him now play in the NHL he's just got bigger and stronger, but he comes to work every single day. He outworked everybody every single day. We had other guys on our team that were drafted and prospects, and he didn't think about that. He just outworked them every day in practice, and everyday he just got a little bit better and a little bit better. Unfortunately for some of the other guys, they're not in the NHL, and I think him and Josh Brown are the only two that are in the NHL today. It's a testament to if you stay on it and you want something bad enough, you can get it done."