Kiefer Sherwood spent several nights last spring chasing Quinn Hughes around the ice and generally pestering the Vancouver Canucks.
Now the former Nashville Predators winger is wearing a Canucks jersey.
After signing with Vancouver in free agency, Sherwood is at training camp in Penticton, B.C., lining up against the players he frustrated in the first round of the playoffs last season.
His former foes have welcomed him welcomed with open arms.
“I try to be hard to play against and try to hate the other team and play with that hate and that fire. But at the end of the day, it’s a business and it’s a game of respect,” Sherwood said. “You’re not going after guys if you don’t respect them, right? So now that we’re teammates, it’s just respect.”
The 29-year-old Sherwood’s path to Vancouver wasn’t linear.
A six-foot, 194-pound forward from Columbus, Ohio, he went undrafted before signing with the Anaheim Ducks as a free agent in March 2018, and played 50 games for the team during the 2018-19 campaign.
But Sherwood struggled to stick in the NHL, bouncing back and forth between the minors during stints with Anaheim, Nashville and the Colorado Avalanche.
Eventually, he realized that to cement his spot, he needed to find what made him special — and he landed on speed.
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“It’s definitely something that I had to learn and kind of ingrain in myself and train. I think the saying is adapt or die,” Sherwood said. “At the end of the day, you can light up the minors all you want, but you want to be here in this league.”
To hone his speed, Sherwood added more dynamic movement to his training regime, looking to create a new level of explosiveness in his skating.
That explosiveness is the key to winning puck battles, he said.
“I want to hunt. I want to get in on the forecheck, I want to create time and space for my linemates,” he said. “And ultimately, it’s a possession game too. So I want the puck on our tape and to get it to guys that can make plays. We value the puck, we value possession, we value plays. And if we’re dumping it in or forechecking, I want to get it back.”
When he can’t get the puck back, Sherwood wants to wear down the other team.
“It’s kind of the game within the game,” he said. “And it’s that fire that I’m really focused on bringing every night.”
Last season marked a career-best campaign for Sherwood, who put up 10 goals and 17 assists in 68 regular-season appearances for Nashville.
He also appeared in all six of the Predators post-season games and contributed a goal before the team was eliminated by the Canucks.
“I’ve had to look inward a little bit and try to figure out what it’s going to take, and dig deep,” Sherwood said of his career. “And then from there, just keep refining and growing the identity that I need to play with night in and night out.”
His speed and tenacity hasn’t gone unnoticed at his first Canucks training camp.
“Even the forecheck drills, always he’s moving his feet. His effort’s high,” said head coach Rick Tocchet.
“I thought some of the one-on-one drills, he made some nice moves with the puck. That’s the stuff I want to see. But he’s high-energy, big-motor guy. Guys like that, they’re all over the forecheck.”
Playing against Sherwood in last spring’s playoffs, Canucks captain Hughes learned that Sherwood’s playing style means opponents need to always be aware of when the winger’s on the ice.
“He’s a really good player.” Hughes said. “I think he’s got more game than people give him credit for. I’m not the coach, but I think he can play anywhere in the lineup. And I think he’s just a great addition.”
Tocchet also believes Sherwood could have more offensive upside to his game, noting that the Canucks coaching staff has identified some places they want the new addition to work on his game.
“There’s sometimes when he has (the puck), he can slow it down a bit to make a play,” the coach said. “But … I’d rather him have the motor going, and we’ll worry about the other stuff. And he’s a guy you can bounce around on different lines too. So it’s a luxury.”
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