There are three people at the top of the list – the ones Ducks coach Dallas Eakins has a fairly good idea of how they think.
Emerson, Cameron and Troy.
“His two kids and me,” Troy Terry said.
Emerson and Cameron are Dallas Eakins’ daughters. Terry was the Ducks’ leading scorer this past season with a breakthrough performance: 37 goals and 67 points, with a 16-game point streak. Eakins and Terry sat down before the regular-season opener and reviewed his goals for the 2022-23 campaign.
“He knows I’ve always been an over-analyzer,” Terry said. “I’ve always nit-picked everything and been hard on myself. All this stuff.
“I thought that’s what I did well last year – I got away from breaking down every single shift that I had and worrying about every mistake I made. I just moved on and played. I didn’t come into the year thinking I wanted to score 40 goals or I wanted to score 30 goals. I just came into the year and found my game and just went into every night knowing that I could be a difference maker. The goals just kind of came.”
Their relationship dates to when Eakins coached Terry in San Diego with the Ducks’ AHL affiliate. Terry split the 2018-19 season between the AHL and NHL, playing 41 games with the Gulls and 32 with the Ducks.
“I’ve coached him for a while and we’ve spent a lot of time talking and interacting and he’s gone through a bunch of adversity,” Eakins said. “It is the truth – they end up being like your kids. I’ve got a great read on my two kids at home and I can tell how he’s doing. If he walks in, in the morning, I know how it’s going. If he walks out here right now, I can tell you how it’s going – body language and the way he’s interacting.”
This particular discussion was the other day after practice in Newark, N.J. Mason McTavish walked by earlier on the way to the dressing room, whistling. “Nice whistling, coming down the hallway,” Eakins said. McTavish: “Thank you.”
The rookie is harder to read, but, again, it’s early days.
“We just haven’t had as much time together as Troy,” Eakins said. “But that will grow and build. Mason right now is a little bit more of a good poker player, keeping his cards close to the chest. No one knows if he’s got aces or a (bad) hand.”
Terry, on the other hand, is charmingly candid. On the ice, his joy at scoring the first goal of the season – less than a minute in against Seattle – was on full display at Honda Center.
“Last year, especially at the start when I’d score, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself,” Terry said. “I don’t think I was expecting to score on the first shift. I can tell you I had no control over what my body was doing after that. That was as high and as powerful as I could jump.”
Terry is leading the Ducks (1-3-1) in scoring with six points (three goals, three assists) in five games, sparked by the three-point night against the Kraken, punctuated by the wining goal in overtime. The Ducks wrap up this five-game trip Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings.
Terry started the season on a line with McTavish and center Ryan Strome and has been with Adam Henrique and Trevor Zegras since the second game of the trip.
While a productive start has been beneficial for the newcomers – like Strome and Frank Vatrano – it’s been important for Terry to make an early statement too.
“Even for Troy – coming in – (showing) last year wasn’t a one-off,” Eakins said.
The talk Terry had with Eakins made him realize how long they’ve been together and how Eakins has watched him take the next steps, turning into a reliable NHLer and now one of the faces of the franchise.
“He’s seen me develop as a hockey player and seen me develop as a man,” said Terry, who turned 25 on Sept. 10. “Now I’m married and I’ve got two dogs. He’s been there for the big evolution of my life – it’s true. I’ve had countless talks with him over the last couple of years whether I was struggling or I doing good.
“He could tell I’m starting to get frustrated or starting to get too hard on myself – that type of thing. It was just a reminder that he does cares about me and he cares about everyone on this team. At this point, we know each other well enough where we know if a guy is overthinking or a guy is struggling mentally.”
Terry’s evolution is an important reminder that a player isn’t a finished product at 18 or 20 or 23. Far from it. The developmental curve is wildly random.
“You draft these guys,” Eakins said. “They’re 18 years old and (then) they’ve only been with you for three years and they’re trying to find their way. Suddenly you’re getting tired of them at 21.
“The thing I always say – coaches and management really need to be patient. And the players need to be urgent. When you have that mix, I think everybody would be much better off.”