Gerard Gallant met with the media on Tuesday after practice and said (NYR):

• On Will Cuylle being called up and playing tomorrow, “yea, good to see, first opportunity, so it’s great. He deserves it, played well down there. Looking forward to seeing him play tomorrow.”

• On Cuylle, “Solid kid, up and down, plays the game the right way, one of those 200-foot players. He’s played really well in the AHL. The coaches said he’s done a real good job down there and so he’s earned a call and we’ll give him an opportunity.”
• What do you tell a player like Cuylle before his first game, “we don’t tell him too much, leave him alone, go out and play, have fun and enjoy the game. They play the same systems we play down there and that is part of it. You don’t want to talk to him too much, could make him nervous. Let him go play his game and have some fun.”
• How do you see him fitting in, “I don’t see him killing penalties tomorrow or playing on the PP, but play on that line and work hard and up and down and see where it goes from there.”
• Have you decided who will come out, “I haven’t no, we’ll talk later today with the guys.”
• Were you looking for a different ingredient on that line, “No, I think, as you know Sammy went down to get some conditioning and games down there so we had to call up another player and if we’re gonna call up a young kid like that, Toronto is his hometown, quick trip for his family. That line didn’t do nothing wrong last night, it’s just that the three lines were going pretty good and I wanted to get them on the ice more. It’s nothing to do, obviously in the long run he is that type of player for those positions, but it’s his first game, just want to let him go out there and play and do a good job and he deserved the call up and I’ve never seen him play down there, a couple of games on TV. The coaches and management made that decision and I think it’s a great opportunity for him to come up.”
• Were you thinking of changing up the lines, “last night I was, today it felt a little better. It wasn’t a perfect game last night by no means, but we created goals, scored some goals and we sit there this morning and think what we should do and we came up with that.”
• Are there things that Adam Fox does that surprise you, “I can’t say there is because last year when I saw him he was a pretty great hockey player and he’d just come off the Norris. I just think that the guy…he reminds me, back in our day, of a guy like Brad Park. People come to him and he just sort of fakes, without doing much, he fakes them off. The goal last night he makes an unbelievable play, the goalie, he faked him right out, but he does that with forwards coming at him, too. He has that ability to shake people off him without doing a whole lot and beats people. When he’s got the puck he’s confident. He makes mistakes, he turns pucks over at times but he’s one of those guys where 90% of the plays are the right ones and he’s got the talent and skill to do that.”
• Did you ever play with anyone who reminds you of him, “not really. Brad Park was at the end of his career when I played with him so it was a completely different player, his knees were gone, but just the way he handled the puck and made guys…I can’t really think of a guy, honestly.”
• What are you hoping Sammy Blais gets out of his conditioning stint, “Just go down there and play some big minutes and hopefully things go well for him. Like I said, it hasn’t been…he hasn’t played bad for us when he’s played, he’s played 8-9-10 minutes most games. He hasn’t gotten into a groove, he hasn’t had any luck this year. Hopefully, some good things will happen to him down there, go down and play a lot of minutes, play some PP probably a little bit. Just re-jump him, get things going for him because it’s no fun…it was pretty stale and the good opportunity is that he gets to go down there and play, I think, 5-6 games, hopefully, and then come back.”
• On Blais, “It was a major knee injury, he missed the whole year, worked hard in the summer. He did everything you’re supposed to do, but sometimes the knee doesn’t cooperate. We’d like him to be a little bit quicker and I think that is what it’s all about. People worked hard with him, he’s done a good job himself, personally but it hasn’t gone perfect for him yet. He wants to get some success on the ice and that is what we want too.”
• What have you seen from Kravtsov lately, “He’s been fine…but again, he’s not a fourth-line player. When Cuylle comes up, whether it’s Kravy coming out or Gauthier coming out, whoever is going to come out tomorrow when we decide… Kravy did OK, he’s played OK, but he’s not built for a fourth line, he’s built to play in a top-nine position. If we decide that’s something that’s going to shake down tomorrow, then we’ll see. He’s been fine….I wish he’d score more, I wish he’d finish more checks and stuff like that, but overall he’s played about 20 games in a row, in that area, and he’s been okay.”
• Is that a tough position for Kravtsov knowing that he isn’t a fourth liner, “somebody’s gotta be there and the top-nine I’m happy with. He’s still a young player, still inexperienced with NHL games…I always say to the guys ‘make me play you, make me keep you in the lineup. Whether it’s him tomorrow or not…it sounds like it’s going to be him right now, but I haven’t made that decision. We’ll decide tonight when we sit down with the coaches, but Cuylle is going in, that’s for sure.”
• Does Kravtsov play enough of a direct game to play with Trocheck, “he’s got no problem playing on that line. Kravy’s been good, been fine. I wish he scored a little bit more and had more points in the 20 games, but he’s been fine, paying attention to detail. He still gets knocked off the puck too easily, for me, there are little things in his game that have to get better, but that comes with NHL experience, no different than the other young kids. I think they’ve all taken a step, all those kids, and we need the same from Kravy. We’re not disappointed in him, if he doesn’t play tomorrow it’s not about that, it’s about a kid coming up and getting ready to play.”