A funny thing happened in Slovakia. Kyle Turris suddenly became a good hockey player again.



That was meant to be facetious, of course. Turris has always been a good hockey player (though his time with the Predators has been uneven for a variety of reasons). It’s just been a while since the version of Turris that captained the Canadian national team to a silver-medal finish at the IIHF World Championships has been seen in a Predators sweater.



The natural response to the numerous highlights of Turris slashing to the net for goals and setting up teammates with precise passes is, to put it bluntly, “What gives?”



“Ultimately, (it’s) just having the confidence to play my game and have fun playing it,” Turris told The Athletic last week. “I’m making plays and not second-guessing anything and just playing the game I’ve played my whole life.”



When asked to elaborate on the reasons behind the...