The big Sens defenseman says his season so far has been a "work in progress."
After spending the offseason in North Dakota with family and friends, Ottawa Senators defenceman Tyler Kleven wanted to start his 2025-26 campaign like his 2024-25 season ended.
Playing confidently.
The Senators' left defenceman took marked steps forward as the season developed, and by the end of the postseason, Kleven shone as a player not daunted by the stakes involved. More importantly, he appeared to get more comfortable and confident as the series progressed.
It was not necessarily the easiest season for Kleven.
Although he formally did not qualify as a rookie under the parameters outlined within the CBA, the young defenceman became an NHL regular for the first time after having only 17 games of NHL experience under his belt across the previous two seasons.
Head coach Travis Green divulged in his end-of-season media availability that Kleven was one of the players he challenged and was admittedly hard on during the early stretches of the season.
"Tyler Kleven showed two sides," Green revealed. "I didn't think he put in the work to come into camp and have the best camp he could last year. You hope that he's learned from it. He progressed as the season went on, and now it's up to him to take what he's learned and apply it so he comes into camp as a better player than he was last year."
Kleven believed the tough love helped him improve.
"You want to improve," he acknowledged. " You spend 82 games in the NHL as a younger defenseman, and I had 17 games of experience before that, (the coach) is going to be hard on me at times.
"Over the course of the season, it definitely helped me out. As the season progressed, (Green) gave me a little bit longer leash, and that's when I started gaining confidence. I went into the summer knowing what I wanted to include in my game, and I did everything I could to get better."
The message from management and coaches during his exit interview was simple: channel how he finished last season and bring that swagger with him into camp.
"They just told me that they want me to come in with the same mentality as I had at the end of the year," Kleven stated. "To just play my game and help the team out.
"To me, it is about getting your reps and getting more comfortable going back to pucks and breaking pucks out and playing in the (offensive) zone."
One of the biggest revelations in the postseason was how comfortable and poised the 6'5", 225 lb defender was in retrieving pucks, recognizing the forechecking pressure before making efficient plays or passes to exit the zone cleanly.
"I went out there and just played like it's another game," Kleven remarked as he downplayed the perceived growth in his postseason performance. "When I play in the postseason, you have seven games in a series. You can go as hard as you can in every single game.
"During the course of an 82-game season, it's hard to stand out. You have to take care of your body to prevent burning out every two games. In a seven-game series, that's more my style to be physical. I could be mean against the top guys, and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the playoffs, and I can't wait to be back."
Unfortunately, the start to Kleven's season was postponed after the defenceman went into the endboards during the Senators' preseason opener against the Maple Leafs and suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury.
Kleven admitted that it has taken time to adjust and get back into the flow.
"It's been a work in progress," the defenceman said. "As the games are gonna go on here, I'm going to feel more like myself. I wouldn't say I'm getting back into it because I feel like I've had enough practice and games now. It's just going to take time to get back to being perfect."
Kleven has posted some strong underlying metrics through his first seven games while playing predominantly with Nik Matinpalo and Jordan Spence. When Kleven has been on the ice, the Senators have generated 54.55 percent of the shots (CF%), 60.24 percent of the shots on goal (SF%), and 60.09 percent of the expected goals (xGF%) per Natural Stat Trick.
While those underlying numbers can often go unobserved, Kleven's physicality and penchant for delivering a big hit are unmistakable.
In Kleven's first game, he pasted Nashville's Tyson Jost, and in Saturday's game against the Capitals, he delivered another sizable hit to Ryan Leonard.
Kleven was renowned for delivering monstrous hits at the collegiate and minor league levels, but he has not chased that component of the game since joining Ottawa.
That entertaining facet of his game is finally starting to manifest more regularly this season.
"I try to take advantage of what I'm given," Kleven said while reflecting on his uptick of big hits this season. "Some games it's not there. (The Edmonton) game, there was not really much there, and I didn't have a big hit.
"I try to keep everything outside. I don't expect to have a big hit every single game, but if the play comes, I'll do what I can. That's a big part of my game, and it takes time to learn how our system works. The more you understand it, the more you know where guys are going to be, and I can deliver hits like that more often."
Kleven takes satisfaction in delivering those big hits that bring fans out of their seats.
"It gets you into the game a little bit more, and I like to play physical. It's a big part of my game.
"I try to separate the man from the puck, and sometimes the hits are bigger than others. I like getting the crowd fired up, and it brings some energy to the bench as well."
More Sens headlines at The Hockey News Ottawa:
What's Going On With Fabian Zetterlund's Lack of Production?
Cozens and Batherson Each Score Twice In Senators' 7-1 Win In Washington
Jordan Spence Reflects On Saturday's Mistake And His Team's Support
What’s Going On With Chabot and Jensen In Ottawa? The Early Numbers Aren’t Pretty
Senators Walk The Early Season Fine Line Between Disaster And Success
Weekly Farm Report: Sogaard Injured As B-Sens Sweep Toronto