"I spend a lot of time with him because he lives out by me. I wouldn't call myself his personal chauffeur, but I pick him up a lot and make sure he gets to the rink on time. And the biggest thing with him is that it's a big adjustment. He's coming from Europe to North America. There's a smaller ice surface. The food is different. There's a lot of different things he has to adjust to. He's a diabetic and a celiac, so there's a lot of things he needs to be aware with, especially with food. But he's a very mature kid. What is he, 18? I forget that all the time. [He is, indeed, 18 and turns 19 in February.] He's got All-Star written all over him.

"The biggest thing is to make sure, as a team, we stay inclusive. He's very quiet. There's obviously a language barrier he's working on. I enjoy being around him, but I need him to talk more. I'm trying to break his shell, that's my job I guess. We've had a couple car rides where I think he just says 'good morning' to me and that's it. So I'm working on him, trying to ask him more things. I'm going to try to learn some Finnish, I think. The more comfortable he gets, the more skill and fantastic plays you'll see on the ice."

-Brendan Smith of the New York Rangers on teammate Kaapo Kakko. Emily Kaplan of ESPN has many more NHL topics today.