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“He went to (Boston University) for one year and the next year went to camp and made the team,” said the younger Tkachuk at Monday’s NHLPA Rookie Showcase. “He said that the summer before that camp was the hardest he’s ever worked to put him in a spot to make it. I kind of took that as motivation.”

Tkachuk, who scored the overtime winner to help the London Knights win the Memorial Cup, has spent the summer taking a page out of his father’s workbook. He skipped world junior camp and instead has been training off the ice in Toronto, in order to be “re-energized and refocused for training camp.”

As an 18-year-old, he either has to make the Flames’ roster or be returned to junior. And it’s clear what option he is hoping for.

“Everybody always says ultimately it’s (the Flames’) decision, but in my opinion I want to put all the weight of the pressure on my own shoulders,” said Tkachuk. “I want to go in there and compete for a job. It’s not going to be given to me and it’s not going to be easy. But I feel like I’ve had a great summer.”

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It didn’t take long for Jesse Puljujarvi’s name to come up when talking to Pierre-Luc Dubois.

For Dubois, it’s something he’s getting used to. After all, most expected Puljujarvi would be the third-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. So when the Columbus Blue Jackets selected Dubois instead — Puljujarvi went fourth overall to the Edmonton Oilers — it was natural that the two players would be forever compared and contrasted.