The Washington Capitals were well-represented overseas as defenseman Rasmus Sandin headed to Milan to take part in the NHL/NHLPA European Player Media Tour this past week, and there, he got to touch more on the growth and improvement he's shown since last season.
Sandin joined Elliotte Friedman's 32 Thoughts podcast while he was in Italy, where he discussed his growth with the Capitals and reflected on his overall play.
"I feel pretty good about my year that was, I mean not only me, but the whole team just played into it," Sandin said.
The 25-year-old defenseman credited coach Spencer Carbery and assistant Mitch Love for their transparency and hands-on approach to helping him take a major step forward, saying that they had talks every day about where he could improve.
"Obviously, we had a lot of new players. We had a talk me and Carbs, especially pretty early on. We didn't know how exaclty in the beginning they were going to put the lineup together... we understood both of us that I have to change a little bit if I want to keep my ice time up too and do whatever I can to make the team better," Sandin said. "So him and Lover, our D coach, both helped me a lot."
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Sandin said that he saw his playing style and game take on a new form, as he started to shift more away from the offensive defenseman identity he entered the league in while becoming more confident in his ability at both ends of the ice.
"I had to change my game a little bit... they helped me so much with developing the play without the puck, and I feel like before last year, I wasn't very comfortable all the time playing against the other team's top players in the D zone and stuff like that," Sandin said. "Now, I feel like it's almost one of my strengths on the ice with how I play defense which is awesome. I feel comfortable all over the ice. super happy with the steps I took."