from Ansar Khan of Mlive,

Coach Jeff Blashill described Sundqvist as a “real good hockey player.”

“That’s the term that has been used when I’ve talked to people who have had him, meaning he’s got good hockey sense,” Blashill said. “He’s strong on his stick. Because of that he’s a good two-way player that has ability to play on the penalty kill and the power play. We’ve talked about the need to get better defensively and adding a good 200-foot player will help. I’ll start him at wing tonight but eventually could see him moving to center, because he is a real responsible down-low center.”...

“We had a hard time getting to the net against Seattle (in Saturday’s 4-2 loss),” Blashill said. “We just have a hard time in some of those games when we face some opponents that have really big, strong D. Size helps you get to those areas and also matters defensively, especially if you’re long.”

Sundqvist is comfortable in his role.

“I think mostly a defensive responsibility but also contributing offensively,” Sundqvist, 27, said. “It’s always been my strong suit, my two-way game, so just trying to help the team best as I can both ends of the ice.”

Blashill said he is intrigued by the left-shooting Walman....

“I’m not saying Jake will get there or won’t get there. But I know we want to gap off the offensive blueline, we want to end rushes early, we don’t want to give away time and space, and a guy that can skate like that can really help. His best attributes are his skating and his shooting. From a shooting perspective, we talked about our D shooting more. Make sure he’s shooting every chance he gets.”

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