Zack Ostapchuk started last season with the San Jose Barracuda. After being traded to the San Jose Sharks from the Ottawa Senators at the previous Trade Deadline, he said it was beneficial.
“Coming in last year, starting in the minors, I think it was almost good for me,” Ostapchuk said. “Get some confidence back, and when I came back up (to the Sharks) I got an opportunity. I tried to do my best to run with that, set myself up for this year, and build on my game.”
A testament to how far that Ostapchuk has come from last camp, head coach Ryan Warsofsky named the 23-year-old an alternate captain in the San Jose Sharks’ pre-season debut on Sept. 20.
“He’s grown a lot. Played most of the year last year in the National Hockey League, and he’s really earned what he’s gotten from the way he’s worked, on and off the ice,” Warsofsky said post-game. “So he’s a leader by example, and he’s a good guy to look up to if you’re a younger guy coming into the league of just keep pushing, pushing and put your head down and go to work.”
Ostapchuk spoke about the Sharks’ deep forward group, replacing Ryan Reaves, his summer, and more.
On what he worked on over the summer…
A big focus for me was my conditioning. I wanted to be able to have a motor where I can go forecheck for 40 seconds and be on the puck for a long period of time. Every offseason, try and get bigger, stronger. Little skills like when I turn over pucks on the forecheck, I can actually hang on to it and make plays was something that I worked on a lot.
On wanting to win more faceoffs…
Whenever you start with the puck, it’s good. I want to be a big part of our PK, and when you win that first draw in the PK, you kill 20 seconds. It’s huge. We have a lot of guys here that work on it with me, like Delly (Ty Dellandrea) and Mack (Macklin Celebrini), and we take a lot of face-offs. It’s something our group wants to take a lot of pride in.
On the San Jose Sharks having a deep forward group at Training Camp…
It raises everybody’s game. We’ve got 15 forwards that can come in and play. You’ve got to bring it every day to the rink if you want to be in the lineup. I think it’s good for everybody though. It pushes you to your limit every day, and you want to be better than the next guy, but it’s a healthy competition.
On filling the tough guy role that Ryan Reaves filled last season…
It’s not only me. He’s a presence out there, Reavo. We’re going to miss him a lot, but it’s a collective thing. We brought in some guys too that added to our team toughness. Marchment and Nurse and Trouba and all those guys. I don’t think anybody’s going to be pushing us around this year.
On 7-foot-1 Alexander Karmanov…
The first time I saw him, I was in the lounge and he walked right by Nursey (6-foot-4 Darnell Nurse). Nursey’s huge, and he looked tiny. It was actually shocking to see.