Anton Blidh can't become too comfortable, but his hard work surely is paying off.
The Boston Bruins forward explained Tuesday how improving his skating has been a crucial factor in his carving out a role in the team's lineup this season. The 26 appearances Blidh has racked up this season represent a career-high, and he credits the work he put in last offseason in his native Sweden for helping him raise his game in 2021-22.
"I had a great summer, worked out very hard and gotta give credit to my trainer back home," Blidh said Tuesday at a press conference. "Skated pretty hard, worked on my foot speed, and that's it. ... We have a group of NHL guys over there skating in the summer. So it's a very competitive group, which is good for me."
The Bruins selected Blidh in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, but he needed two years of further seasoning in Sweden before he was ready to sign with the team. He played a season-plus for the Providence Bruins before earning his first call-up to Boston in December 2016. However, the 19 games he played for the Bruins didn't launch him into the NHL to stay. He made just 19 more appearances for Boston between 2017 and the end of the 2021 campaign.
Years of waiting to play regularly in Boston didn't cause Blidh to abandon his NHL dream. In fact, the waiting game focused him on what he could do to secure a role on the Bruins.
"Speed is a big part of the NHL right now," he said. "My goal when I moved over here was to play in the NHL. It takes a longer time for a couple of guys, and obviously what I'm one of them. And also I didn't get disappointed when I get sent down. I tried to make the best of the situation and work out down there and show them that I'm ready whenever I get the call."
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy discussed Blidh's progress Tuesday in a press conference, saying the winger now is doing a better job of executing seemingly minor details that can have major impacts on the team's results.
"He should value himself as an NHLer," Cassidy said. "Maybe he's not every night in there. But that's got to be his mindset that, 'If I can keep doing this, I can be that guy that's an everyday kind of like (Joakim) Nordstrom did for us and will just give us good solid minutes.' He's becoming much more of that than the guy that was maybe a little inconsistent the last couple years."
Blidh's successful summer came in the aftermath of the Bruins re-signing him on a one-year, two-way contract extension. If he continues to perform well, he might be in line for a longer, and more lucrative, stay.
Fast-forward, never backward is mindset that is serving Anton Blidh well.
