Michael Kesselring is trying to put last season in the rearview mirror, and he’s not being subtle about it.
The defenseman said he has “deleted that from my memory” after a difficult year with the Buffalo Sabres, when he was limited to 34 games by multiple injuries that stuck with him all season and chipped away at his confidence in how he moved. He said he spent part of the summer working with a mental coach to reset.
“I worked on it a little bit too this summer. Mental coach, and just getting my head right after that year,” Kesselring said.
“It was hard to focus with the injuries, and then not really having the coach’s trust too much. It was a good experience to go through, and I think I’m going to grow from it.”
That reset has shown up early in his first training camp with the San Jose Sharks. Kesselring, a right-handed defenseman, has been paired with Darnell Nurse, and he says the physical edge and mobility that defined his game feel like they’re back.
“The big thing is like I feel explosive and I feel powerful again, and that’s something I didn’t feel like I had all last year,” Kesselring said. “It’s exciting.
When I wheel the net now, I’m like, ‘Oh okay, I’m moving like I was in Utah.’ That was a big mental hurdle that was hard to go through last year, so it’s really exciting.”
He also pointed to the comfort level he’s already found around the Sharks’ room. Kesselring said Ryan Warsofsky, Will Smith and Collin Graf all helped make the transition smoother, while newcomers like Nurse, Jacob Trouba and Mason Marchment have fit in easily as well.
“It’s honestly been really easy. It was nice knowing I have a relationship with Warso (Ryan Warsofsky) already from Worlds.
I’ve known Smitty (Will Smith) forever. I’ve known Graffer (Collin Graf) forever.
Made it pretty easy. The new guys have been great.
Nurse, Troubs (Jacob Trouba), Mush (Mason Marchment). It’s been a really easy adjustment.
It’s been fun so far.”
For Kesselring, the early partnership with Nurse carries obvious appeal. He likes the overlap in their games and the chance to learn from someone with plenty of high-level experience.
“You don’t get to two Cup finals without being a good player. He’s got a lot of experience.
I think we’re similar in a lot of ways. We’re big, we can skate, we can close time and space on opposition forwards really well.
He’s been talking to me a little bit throughout the scrimmages. It’s tough the first few days, just trying to get used to each other a little bit, but it’s been all good so far.
He’s a great veteran, lots and lots of experience, so it’ll be good to lean on him.”
The Sharks’ blue line has been a major talking point for him too. Kesselring said the group’s job is straightforward: cut down goals against, make life miserable for opposing forwards, and keep the puck moving north to the team’s skilled young attackers.
“That’s a big thing we’ve harped on is we’ve got to allow less goals than they did last year, and me, Nursey, Troubs, Dicky (Sam Dickinson) - we’re all big, we all can skate. Closing time and space from skilled players and being hard to play against is going to be a key for us.
And then early in the year, just keeping it simple, moving the pucks up. Obviously, Cags (Luca Cagnoni) has looked really, really good so far.
He’s kind of our offensive spark plug, and he can make some plays, he can get involved, let him do his thing. We defend hard, break pucks out.
Same with Orly (Dmitry Orlov). Orly has been in the league a long time, he’s got some skill, he can make some plays.
So the four big boys take away time and space, play simple, get it in Mack’s (Macklin Celebrini) hands, Smitty’s hands, Stenny’s (Ivar Stenberg) hands. Our forward group is so skilled and talented, it shouldn’t be too complicated, just get it up to them, break up plays, be hard to play against.”
Kesselring also said San Jose has been an easy place to settle in. He mentioned hearing good things about the organization through Tyler Spott, who was his college roommate, and Spott’s father, former Sharks assistant coach Steve Spott. He also noted the familiarity of having Warsofsky around and said Jason Demers has been a major support system.
“It’s been great. Honestly, it’s just a nice place to live.
I’ve heard great things. Tyler Spott was my roommate in college.
His dad (former San Jose Sharks assistant coach Steve Spott) has great things to say about the organization. Knowing Warso, it just makes me a little bit more comfortable having that experience with him at Worlds, and it’s a great place to live.
JD, Jason Demers has kind of been my big brother in hockey, so he had great things to say.”
Demers’ presence is especially meaningful to Kesselring, even with Demers now set to be around the team as part of the broadcast side. The veteran has been a steady voice for him, including advice about staying even-keeled after mistakes.
“It’s nice, and mentally, he’s a guy that’s always there for me. It’s nice to see him around.
We went to dinner the other night, and that’s been the big thing. Even back in Bakersfield, he’d talk to me about being even keeled and something I’m really going to be focused on this year - if you make a mistake, you don’t need to chase it.
Just staying level-headed and trusting my abilities to be a good hockey player.”
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