Jamie Drysdale had a realization the other day as he looked at his Team Canada sweater and World Junior gold medal in his room.
"I told my parents, I was like, 'OK, this is pretty cool. We got to get this framed or something.' But these days we're not going out and getting that done so right now it's just hanging in a safe spot."
The medal is a symbol of how far Drysdale has come this season. In December, he became just the seventh 17-year-old defenceman to play for Team Canada at the World Juniors since 1991. The other names on that list: Aaron Ekblad, Ryan Ellis, Jay Boumeester, Chris Phillips, Wade Redden and Scott Niedermayer.
"Coming into the year if you told me I would be on the team, I don't know if I would've believed you," Drysdale admits. "Getting a spot on that roster was a really big stepping stone for me."
Drysdale served as Team Canada's seventh defenceman until the semifinal game against Finland when Bowen Byram got sick and couldn't play. The Erie Otter was thrust into a top-four role, responding with a goal while logging more than 20 minutes.
The experience in Ostrava, Czech Republic gave Drysdale a boost of confidence and also insight on how to take the next step.
"A lot of it was just watching and observing the players and staff and how everyone was," he said of his biggest takeaway, "how they conducted themselves on and off the ice. It was little details and how attentive they were to those, even something as simple as the eating habits pre-game."
Drysdale marvelled at how a prospect of Byram's pedigree kept pushing himself.
"We all wore heart-rate monitors in practice and it measured a bunch of different things and he was the highest in them so he joked around about how he was the hardest worker and working harder then everyone. Just went to show that as good as he is, he still works that hard. You want to be the hardest worker and that's something I picked up."
The Colorado Avalanche selected Byram fourth overall in last year's NHL draft making him the top defenceman taken. Drysdale, who posted 47 points in 49 Ontario Hockey League games this season, is poised to follow in his footsteps. The Toronto native ranks fifth on TSN director of scouting Craig Button's latest list, which came out this week. The next highest defenceman is Jake Sanderson at No. 12.
TSN spoke to Drysdale via Skype on Thursday. The following is an edited transcript of the interview.
What would it mean to be the top defenceman drafted?
"It would obviously be something really cool and just show that all the work I put in paid off. It'd be a stepping stone in the right direction. If that happens I know the work has just begun. It would just make me bury my head and get to work even harder."
What's the toughest question you've been asked when you do interviews with NHL teams?
"Toughest question, hmmm. There's been a couple. 'Who's the toughest player you played against at the World Juniors?' That's one and that was definitely tough, because there were so many great players. And then, 'Who's the toughest player you played against in the OHL?' So, those are two questions that kind of stumped me, because there's a ton of great players you go up against depending on the night. That was one I had to think about a bit. It was almost like you're thinking, 'Who left the biggest impression?' That one was pretty hard."
So, who did you end up saying was the toughest player you faced at the World Juniors?
"I had a couple. First, I said playing with (Alexis) Lafreniere and (Barrett) Hayton. Funny story, so the first time I ever was on the ice with Laffy it was a practice after the (selection) camp. It was the first practice after they made the cuts for the team and we were on the ice and just doing a warm-up drill and he really impressed me, I'll just say that (smiles). It was really impressive so definitely Laffy and Hayts were probably two of the guys that I was like, 'Wow,' when I watched them play. And then when it comes to guys I played against I went with (Team USA forward Trevor) Zegras. I liked how crafty that guy was. His creativity and the poise he had with the puck, he was a pretty fun guy to watch."
Which current NHL player is most like you?
"I don't know if I could give you one right now. I think there's definitely guys I really like to watch and take things from. Morgan Rielly, I'm a Leafs guy, love the Leafs, and he's a guy I watch a lot and love the way he plays and definitely try to take things, any little thing I can, from his game and try to put into mine. Another recent guy who I think is just pretty lights out is (Cale) Makar. He's a young stud and just how he made an impact in his first full year was pretty unbelievable. How he had the poise to make plays on the blue line with confidence, that's another guy that I want to emulate."
Do you remember watching him at the World Juniors? He was the seventh defenceman, like you, who found ways to contribute.
"He was the seventh defenceman, but he lit it up. I remember he had three or four goals. I remember one of his goals, I'm not sure who it was against, but he walked the blueline off the right side, stopped, kind of faked the guy out, went around him right at the blueline (even though) he was the last man back and then sniped bar down. I remember the commentator saying, 'That takes confidence, that's a skilled play,' and that's just something I want to be able to do, just have the confidence to make a play. If you see a play and you're confident in it then go ahead and make it so that's something that definitely left an imprint on me."