Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Johnny Oduya Focused On The Present

06/11/2015 at 5:05pm EDT

from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

When Oduya arrived here in 2012, after the Winnipeg Jets traded him for draft picks, he was thrilled. One season later, he had a featured role on both special-teams units and got fitted for a ring.

“I had a chance to go to a top contender,” Oduya said. “You try to do your best—fit in and find a place where you can use your skills and talent to benefit the team, and it worked out better than I thought.”

The 33-year-old appears to be this summer’s Nick Leddy, a key role player expelled because he didn’t fit onto an accountant’s spreadsheet. Oduya, an impending unrestricted free agent with a $3.383-million cap hit, may have played too well to stay....

Oduya, 33, said his contract situation has been brought up in discussions with teammates a couple times this season but maintained his July 1 deadline is neither a source of motivation nor discouragement.

Fear, he argued, cannot push you towards a championship.

“For us to be focused on something else than what’s going on now would be stupid,” Oduya said. “The reality is, you have to take care of the time you have in front of you.

“I’m going to take time here to enjoy this.”

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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