Adam Sikora’s return to Rangers player development camp got off to a slow start.
Sikora, the team’s second-round pick (63rd overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, was missing a gear.
On the way back to New York, his skates were lost at the airport, forcing him to wear Kaapo Kakko’s skates and borrow equipment from the team.
But once the equipment was sorted, Sikora returned to his old self, providing the genuine source of energy for which he became famous.
“We’ve had some issues, but it is what it is,” Sikora said with a laugh Wednesday.[The coaches] They were really happy with me. I didn’t have any equipment, but I think they said it was a really good camp for me, and I agree. It was a good start for next season.”
Watching Sikora, what stands out most is his youthful energy, both on and off the ice.
He’s just 19 years old and was one of the AHL’s youngest players with the Wolfpack last year.
The Slovakian native represented his country at the junior level and played amateur and professionally before joining the AHL last year.
“He came to a new country, a new culture and just got better as the years went on,” Rangers director of player development Jed Ortmeyer said Tuesday. “He was captain of his country’s world junior team. He’s a fun kid who comes to the rink every day with a smile on his face and that energy spreads throughout the room. We’re really looking forward to having him around and continuing to work with him.”
Sikora had eight goals and 15 assists (23 points) in 66 games last year.
It was his first game in the AHL apart from two games with the Wolfpack the previous year.
He knows he has to turn his energy into results to even be considered for the Rangers’ roster next year.
“It was a little different, a little harder,” Sikora said of the AHL. “Everything was faster, everything was bigger. The players were unpredictable, you knew what to do. It was harder, but for me it was good.”
“I can get better with the puck. Maybe in the first half of the season I scored more goals, but in the second half I was a lot better with the puck. … I’m just trying to get stronger, faster, mentally better. That’s important, too. I know everything has to get better.”
The Rangers lost forward Jack Roslovic in free agency after the forward signed a one-year, $2.8 million contract with the Hurricanes.
Roslovic, 27, finished last season with the Rangers and has 234 points in 481 regular season and playoff games with the Rangers, Winnipeg and Columbus.
— The Associated Press
