TORONTO — Shortly after the Sioux Falls Stampede enrolled Mikhail Berdin in weekly English lessons with a local Russian-American tutor, they half-regretted it.



“Once he started to learn English it was kind of like you wished you could go back to the days where he couldn’t talk as much,” Stampede assistant coach Brett Skinner said, with a laugh.



That was the fall of 2016, shortly after the Winnipeg Jets selected Berdin in the sixth round — 157th overall — at the draft and he moved to South Dakota to pursue his dream.



Three years later, standing inside Toronto’s Ford Perfomance Centre as the reigning AHL player of the week, nothing about Berdin has changed.



Affectionately known as “Birdy” to staff and teammates, he’s the Jets’ free-spirited top goalie prospect. And he’s as talented as he is eccentric.



The people who know Berdin aren’t surprised by him anymore:...