GLENDALE – It’s great to be back on the ice with the guys at training camp here in Arizona. It was a very long off-season for me and I’m glad it’s finally over. I’m looking forward to a new season and a good season for the team. I’m feeling 100 percent healthy, and I’m really happy to be back to work and feeling strong.

It’s been a good camp so far. We have a lot of talented young players here trying to make our team. It’s strange because I’m only 25 but I’m now considered one of the "older guys" in the room. I don’t mind and I’m happy to help them if they ask for it.

Photo by Norm Hall.

A reporter asked me today if I had any advice for the first-round draft picks trying to make this team. My advice to them is just play the game the way you know best and don’t try to do too much to impress people. The skills that they have are what made them high draft picks in the first place.

As for me, I’m very excited for the new season and I’m hoping to reach the goals I’ve set for myself here at camp. I always keep those goals private so I don’t put any added pressure on myself.

We’ve been practicing power play at camp this week and I’m enjoying playing the point with Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the other point. I’ve played point on PP in junior and in the AHL, but never at the NHL level. Newell Brown is the mastermind behind our power play and I’ll play wherever he wants me to play. Hopefully we can make it work.

Speaking of Newell Brown, my brother and I skated at a camp in Austria that Newell was attending back in July. Tobias Rieder was there too. It was great to see them both in the middle of the summer.

It was also great to see my friends and family this summer in Denmark. Last season was a tough season in many ways and spending time with them helped me turn the page and get ready for this season.

I can’t wait for it to start!