Ryan Spooner finally got the scoring monkey off his back last spring, and bigger things are expected of him in 2015-16

The Boston Bruins drafted center Ryan Spooner 45th overall in the second round five years ago, but it took the 23-year-old Ottawa-area native  some time to find find his NHL groove. Despite showing flashes of promise in several stints with the big club during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons, around Christmas of last year, it was looking more and more like the Bruins were giving up on him, as he was linked to several trade rumors and it was later reported that former GM Peter Chiarelli had at one point earlier in the 2014-15 campaign offered him to Buffalo as part of a package to land veteran winger Chris Stewart. In a classic sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make moment, Spooner recovered from some nagging injuries in mid-winter to become one of Providence’s most consistent forwards and when given another opportunity to skate with the big club when David Krejci was injured in late Feb., Spooner seized upon his chance.

Fast forward to August and he’s under contract for two more seasons and enters the 2015-16 season with expectations to be a regular performer for Boston. He’s currently No. 3 on the center depth chart behind Krejci and Patrice Bergeron, but for Spooner, that’s a good place to be.

I had a chance to catch up to him at his home in Kanata, ON where he is spending the bulk of his offseason (he took some time off with a visit to Mexico), and we talked about his new lease on life with the Bruins and how he feels about the new season among other things.

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Kirk Luedeke: Talk to me about the the end of last season and the call up to Boston- how your confidence ended at the end of the year as opposed to where you were at the beginning?

Ryan Spooner: The beginning of the year was a bit strange for me- I would say that it was the most absolutely challenging position I’ve been put in starting in terms of being sent and then getting hurt and missing months of hockey which had only happened to me (in my career) once. When you miss that much hockey, especially when you’ve been sent down and are trying to get called back up and you just want to play well, that was a challenge for me; I tried to stick with it and stay positive. When I got called back up, that was an opportunity to play and play with some awesome players, so I’m grateful for that. I feel a whole lot better about myself how I played at the end and I know a lot of that was because of the people I was playing with. In terms of my confidence at the end, scoring that first goal definitely helped by taking the pressure off me, so that was good.

KL: On that first goal- you were drafted to score in this league and you had several other opportunities with the team but the pucks had not gone in for you. Go back to that night against New Jersey and that goal and what it felt like to score and how that changed your outlook going forward?

RS: Each day I went in asking myself ‘I wonder if I’m going to score this game?’ and I was thinking how long would I go without scoring a goal and it was in the back of my mind- I was kind of tense around the net. It was a 4-on-2  and it was a great play where all of the sudden I had the puck on my stick and I just tried to hit the net- I didn’t even know if it went in. It hit the goalie’s arm, went in and hit back of the net and came out . When it turned out that it went in, I was extremely relieved. I think after that I felt a lot better around the net, more willing to shoot the puck- that was good to feel like that again.

KL: Two-year extension signed in the off-season- the message that sends to you is that you’re a part of the process, the solution going forward in Boston…how does that security and the knowledge that the team wanted you back change your approach going into training camp?

RS: I think it takes a little weight off my back. In the past, I came into camp on a two-way (contract) and it was very easy for them to send me down, and I just feel like going into camp this year and playing like I did at the end of the season by showing I can produce (in Boston). I feel better about myself going into camp and knowing I can help out- that’s all I really want to do. I want to help the team win at the end of the day, that’s why I play. It’s about helping the team in any way I can by doing all the little things beyond the scoring, so that’s what I want to do.

KL: Given that your coach has spoken openly in the past about you and areas where he felt you were falling short, how do you feel about your relationship with Claude Julien going into the new season based on your time on the club last spring?

RS: At the beginning of the year, I think he expected a lot more of me. I don’t think I was playing up to how I should have been and at the end of the day, he’s going to tell me what things he thinks I should be doing better. I think he just wants me to be the best player I can be and that’s why he called me out. In the long run it helped me; I think at the time I felt he was being a little hard on me, but now that I look back on it, he was trying to help and make me a better player and I’m grateful that he did that. In terms of the beginning of the year he was good with me and told me ‘We want you to use your speed and your skill, we want you to be a good two-way player. As long as you do that, I have no issues with you creating offense,’ so that’s what my coaches say to me- as long as I am good in my own end you can go out and make the plays you make, just make sure that you’re responsible.

In terms of next year coming up I want stress getting better at the faceoff dot; trying to work on that and maybe even start a faceoff in my own zone, which I didn’t do a lot of. I know that it takes time as a young guy, and we have some of the best faceoff guys in the league, and he’s going to use them, but I’m striving towards being trusted in situations like that and it’s giving me something to work towards.

KL: It’s been a summer of change for the Bruins- I can imagine some of the changes came as a shock to the guys…how are you processing the changes in terms of the departures of Milan (Lucic) and Dougie (Hamilton) and the arrivals of Matt Beleskey, Jimmy Hayes, plus management in what looks to be a different construction of the club in October versus where you finished last April.

RS: Yeah- it’s always sad to see some of the guys get moved. You build friendships with them and that kind of stuff and then in a split second they’re gone and you don’t really get to see them again so that’s the tough part about playing. At the same time, I’m excited to see what the new team can do and the new additions to the team and I think we’ll be an exciting team to watch- I think we should be good.

KL: So- the rest of August- what is in store for Ryan Spooner- what is your focus going to be so you can be ready for the main camp in September?

RS: I’m going to see John Whitesides, actually- I’m leaving tomorrow morning and driving to Boston. So, I will be there for about three days- just to do a checkup and do a couple of workouts and stuff. Then, I’ll come back home and get back in the gym. I’m going to a charity tournament in Quebec City with me, (Patrice) Bergeron, Jordan Caron- we’re all playing on the same team. It’s a tournament run by Cedric Desjardins– he plays in the American League I believe with Syracuse- he gets a tournament together and gets all the guys and we all play, so I’m going to go out there for about three days. And then back home to see the family for a bit before I head back to Boston.

KL: Will you attend some of the annual non-official captain’s practices that Zdeno Chara leads in the area before the start of camp?

RS: I remember last year I went up around the 10th of September, I believe. Camp opened up on the 18th, so I’ll probably head out there around the same time- around six days beforehand and get to skate and get into the gym there- get settled in and all that.

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Spooner’s biggest challenge will be to build on the positive momentum he generated at the end of the year, when his team was struggling to score, but he was one of the few consistent bright spots. He can’t afford a sluggish showing at camp given the depth that the organization has, and given the peaks and valleys Spooner has experienced to date in his young career, he’ll be ready to go.