Liking what I’m seeing and hearing. Obviously real games will be the true evaluation but the narrative of Kaako benefitting from the break holds a lot of water for me.
For one, he did play a lot of hockey the past year without much break.
For two, I agree with
@egelband, sometimes the body and brain need a break to process all the learning. It’s one thing to practice everyday and try to employ it but sometimes you do need a break. At several moments in my hockey career I found myself (feeling, at least) that I was leaps and bounds improved somehow, after a month lay off. Obviously I’m no NHLer but I did play travel and college puck so I feel that holds water.
For three (who am I, Chris Paul??), I think being drafted #2 and stepping into the NYC spotlight is a lot of pressure. Though he was with us all season, he never got a moment to readjust to his new reality. He was the new child on the team and probably felt like he was still the new guy even at the end of the year. Now that things had a break and he’s returning he’s being welcomed by his teammates like family, as a guy who has been there for a bit, not the new guy in the room. That can change a lot for you mentally. The uncomfortable, holy shit, here’s my locker and there’s Henrik F’ing Lundqvist’s locker and Artemi goddam Panarin’s locker can be tough to shake even after 200 days of it, because it’s 200 consecutive days. Now it’s business as usual, it’s what’s up boys? You ready to do this? Let’s go! That change can really do wonders. Feeling comfortable in your own skin, comfortable to be yourself can translate into being more comfortable when the puck is on their stick.