Senators' playoff series was defenceman Tyler Kleven's proving ground
The Stanley Cup playoffs have consistently served as a proving ground for players who fly under the radar during the National Hockey League regular season. One who couldn't be missed (literally) in this year's first round was Tyler Kleven, the Ottawa Senators' towering defenceman.
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The Senators' playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs was Kleven's coming-out party, as the University of North Dakota product took the NHL by surprise with his physically imposing play, in a bottom-pairing role with Nikolas Matinpalo no less.
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When the Senators made Kleven the 44th-overall pick in the 2020 draft, it was a divisive selection.
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The Senators saw a 6-5 blueliner blessed with size that he used to punish opponents, a hard shot and excellent mobility. They even traded up with the Toronto Maple Leafs to get that 44th pick, exchanging the 59th and 64th overall selections.
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Meanwhile, critics saw a defenceman lacking skill and puck-moving instinct to succeed at the NHL level.
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What both sides could agree on was that Kleven was a long-term project.
Nearly five years later, as Kleven set up Jake Sanderson's Game 4 overtime winner against the Maple Leafs, it was safe to declare that the Senators' second-round gamble had paid off (and their 2020 draft crop, for that matter). Kleven has become the mean, bruising defenceman they envisioned and more.
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After three years at North Dakota, a season in the American Hockey League with the Belleville Senators and a handful of NHL games, Kleven earned his spot on Ottawa's blueline to start this past season. From there, there were growing pains, inevitably, as there are for any rookie NHL defenceman, teammate Thomas Chabot said.
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'It's tough to play that many games in a year against the best players in the world every night,' Chabot said. 'But the more this season went on, the more you saw (Kleven) getting comfortable.'
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Senators head coach Travis Green admitted during the playoffs that he gave Kleven some 'tough love' this season, demanding more focus from the young defenceman in team meetings and more accountability on the ice. Kleven was a player that, Green said, he 'probably treated differently' than a longtime stalwart like Chabot as he acclimated to his first full NHL season.
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'They give you a leash at times,' Kleven said. 'Sometimes, being a younger player, your leash can be shortened at times. I go out there and try to make the right plays. But at times I don't always make the right play, and (Green) has to get on me for that.'
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By the time the playoffs came around, Kleven was in his element, though.
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'It's almost easier because it's so simple,' Kleven said of post-season hockey. 'In the regular season, there's 82 games. You've gotta maintain your body a little bit, you can't go all out every single game. But in the playoffs it's a little bit shorter and you can express yourself on the ice a little bit more at times.'
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