Coyotes’ Derek Stepan expects emotional return to New York

NEW YORK — There were minor differences when Derek Stepan arrived at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday morning for practice. Instead of driving his own car, he took a bus. Instead of riding the elevator, he walked up the ramp. Instead of walking to the Rangers’ locker room, he walked into a visitor’s locker room he had never visited before.

His heart rate never changed.

“It felt like a normal day pretty much after the walk in,” Stepan said. “We’ll see about tomorrow…”

Stepan will face the Rangers on Thursday for the first time since they traded him to Arizona on June 23 along with goalie Antti Raanta for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo (now in the AHL) and the seventh overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft (center Lias Andersson).

Stepan knows this game won’t feel normal.

“I’m an emotional guy,” he said. “I spent seven years here. It’s going to be a rough day, I think. Players always talk about once the puck drops you kind of get in the game, so I’m hoping that happens. In my head, I’ve got a plan but we’ll see if I can stick to it.”

Stepan admitted he wanted to play his entire career with the Rangers, who selected him with the 58th overall pick in 2008. That is the goal and perhaps naïve hope of almost every young player that enters the NHL, but with New York three seasons removed from a Stanley Cup Final berth and general manager Jeff Gorton eyeing free-agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to spark a sagging blue line, something had to give for the salary-cap strapped Rangers.

NHL innocence ended on Day 1 of the Draft when Gorton called Stepan.

“I had a pretty strong feeling he wasn’t calling to check up and see how my summer was going,” Stepan said, smiling. “I think our group knew that changes were going to be made.”

The phone call was short. Gorton told Stepan the particulars, thanked him for his service and the deal was done. The roller coaster of emotions was just beginning for Stepan and his wife, Stephanie Kent, who was six months pregnant.

“Seven years here. We had deep roots in this city,” Stepan said. “She was awesome. She took it like a champ. Moving across the country and giving birth in September is not ideal, switching doctors and doing that whole thing.”

The Coyotes want Stepan to fill a larger role with a young team. Aside from manning the top center position he held in New York when he posted between 53 and 57 points for four straight seasons, Stepan, 27, is a shepherd of sorts for the NHL’s third youngest team.

He is centering left wing Max Domi, 22, and right wing Clayton Keller, 19.

“I’ve been joking with these guys that I’m molding young minds,” he said. “It’s something that I have really enjoyed. It’s a challenge. I want to step into a bigger role than I was in New York and this is a great opportunity.

“I love talking the game, I love teaching when I can and I’ve actually learned quite a bit from the younger guys, too, so it’s a good balance.”

Stepan is already wearing an ‘A’ as one of the team’s alternate captains, but Domi said Stepan’s leadership qualities won’t be found in the obvious places where fans and media look.

“You don’t have to be called a leader to be a leader,” Domi said. “That’s dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s more so the way that he handles himself in every situation, for instance (Wednesday). Obviously, it would be very easy to show up to the rink and be a little bit sour, kind of mopey out there on the ice. He was the loudest guy out there and he was sharp every drill. That to me is what makes a leader.

“A younger guy sees that and then he wants to do that and it makes the whole practice better. Little details like that are what make a leader in my mind. It’s not a guy that steps up, rah, rah, rah yelling in the locker room or talking to the media. All that stuff is meaningless to me.

“Calling for a puck or on a drill, he’s battling for a puck a little longer when some guys would just kind of fade out. Little details like that that unless you’re aware of them and watching for them you won’t see, but that’s what draws our attention as players and as teammates. You respect that and you want to be like that so you work from it.”

When 14-year captain Shane Doan and the Coyotes parted ways this summer, the team was looking for players to fill the void. Stepan was initially hesitant to jump fully into that role. He was the new guy. He felt that he should defer to others like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who had been here longer.

Coach Rick Tocchet convinced him the team needed his voice immediately, and that need is underscored by the Coyotes’ 0-8-1 start.

“He’s got enough years and games under him to be heard,” Tocchet said. “We’re looking for leaders on this team. It’s tough times right now but I don’t see him sinking. We’re looking for somebody to grab an oar, not just slip the boat.”

Like Domi, Tocchet sees Stepan’s leadership in ways that are not always apparent to outside eyes.

“If things slip up on that line I’ve heard him on the bench say ‘hey, make sure you’re in your slot, don’t swing away,’ little things like that,” Tocchet said. “Clayton and Max, they might get off the rails once in a while because they’re trying to score but then he’ll say something and watch the next shift. They’ll do the proper defensive zone coverage.”

The Coyotes’ top line has been good most of the season, and so has Stepan. He has two goals and seven points in nine games and his Corsi For percentage of 52.26 is the fourth-best on the team.

“He does a lot of things that he doesn’t get credit for, too,” Keller said. “Me and Max have a lot of speed on the walls and sometimes we’re pushing the offense when we need to score, but Step is always in the right position. He takes a lot of the responsibility in the D-zone or the neutral zone. If I’m in the wrong spot, he’ll adjust and help me out a little bit and that’s huge.”

Stepan is trying to be a steadying, emotional force as the pressure mounts for the Coyotes to post that elusive first win.

“Everything gets magnified when you’re 0-8-1,” he said. “You start nitpicking. You can’t nitpick too much or you’ll just beat yourself up. At the end of the day, I just believe we need to get a win, however that may be.”

Stepan may have a hard time heeding his own advice when he steps onto familiar ice Thursday night.

“I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m ready, all these things,” he said. “Stick to the plan. I don’t even know if there is a plan, but I’m telling myself there is one. “

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