Submitted by Anonymous on October 22, 2014 - 18:16



By Jeremy Houghtaling



Slater Koekkoek is confident about his path to the National Hockey League.

Despite a shoulder injury prematurely ending his final junior season, Koekkoek led the Windsor Spitfires' blueline in goals, assists, and points last season. But the Tampa Bay Lightning 2012 first-rounder is focused on rounding out his defensive game as he begins his professional career with the Syracuse Crunch.

"There's always pressure being a first round pick. It's a label and people are going to talk about it," Koekkoek said. "But everybody has their own road to the NHL. There's a lot of guys in the NHL that went after me, and there's some guys still not in the NHL that went before me. There's no timetable. I'll develop as fast as I can, and hopefully get called up whenever they need me."

Koekkoek finished his final junior season with 15 goals and 38 assists for 53 points in 62 games before a shoulder injury, the third of his young career.

"It wasn't a happy ending, that's for sure," the 20-year-old defenseman said. "I'd say my second one was probably the toughest -- the same shoulder back-to-back."

Koekkoek realizes there's nothing he can do to change the unfortunate ending to his junior career, and chooses to focus on the positives of his time with the Spitfires under longtime NHL defenseman Bob Boughner.

"Windsor was the best place for me," Koekkoek said of his time in junior. "I had the best defensive coaching I could get, and they treat you like such pros."

Now, Koekkoek's pro career is officially underway.

For Crunch coach Rob Zettler, Koekkoek began the preseason by trying to do too much, whether it was jumping into the rush at wrong times or trying to force plays. That has started to turn around.

"These past couple games he has seemed to settle down a little bit," Zettler said. "He seems to be making smart plays. His best asset is his skating, so he can get back to pucks pretty quickly. For the most part, he's been making the easy play, which is what good defensemen do."

Koekkoek registered his first professional assist in his Crunch debut October 12, but it didn't exactly show off the 6-2, 197-pounder's impressive passing ability.

"The guys were kind of chirping me on my first point," Koekkoek said with a smile. "It went off my skate -- just a broken play completely -- and then I get a point. Everyone was giving it to me, but it's good to get the first one and hopefully I'll get some more this season."

But Koekkoek isn't attempting to put up the same numbers he did in junior.

"This year isn't about points for me," the Winchester, Ontario, native said. "It's about learning to play defense. I'm not going to get to the NHL on points alone."