Devin Setoguchi is squeezed between Oilers Viktor Fasth and Dillon Simpson on Sunday.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Mason Raymond understands how quickly a career crisis can come along. There you are, humming along in the midst of what looks like an established NHL playing career, when all of a sudden one summer you find yourself unwanted, unemployed, standing at the last-chance Texaco.
This is an increasingly common dilemma for players in their 20s. They can get squeezed out of the NHL by an off year or two at a time when the competition for jobs has never been more competitive.
To Raymond's credit, the former Vancouver Canucks winger went to Toronto on a tryout last September, won a job with the Maple leafs in training camp and resurrected his career. Ultimately, he responded with the second-best statistical year of his career – and landed a longer-term job in Calgary, where the rebuilding Flames offered a three-year contract for $3.15-million (U.S.) a season. In the first week of training camp, Raymond, 29, from nearby Cochrane, is getting a look on the team's nominal No. 1 line.
Things are looking up again.
Devin Setoguchi, an Albertan from down Taber way, is where Raymond was a year ago. Back when he was a second-year pro, Setoguchi scored 31 goals playing for San Jose on a line with Joe Thornton, arguably the greatest playmaker of his generation.
But it's been downhill ever since for the 27-year-old. In 2013, the Winnipeg Jets gave up a second-round draft choice to land Setoguchi from the Minnesota Wild. This past summer, available as an unrestricted free agent, there were no takers – until the Flames offered him a one-year deal for $750,000 late in the summer. More importantly, they gave him an opportunity to get his career back on the rails in the same way Raymond did in Toronto.
"Once you're stuck in a corner and you feel suddenly that none of the 30 teams want you anymore, you're facing adversity," said Flames coach Bob Hartley, who noted that Raymond passed his test last year in Toronto last year "with flying colours." And now, Hartley added, "it's my job and it's [Raymond's] job to make sure we come up with a plan that will make him feel good and make him feel he's a big contributor for us."
As for Setoguchi, Hartley said all the right things when camp opened – that he had a lot to prove; that he needed to be fitter; and that sometimes you need to hit rock bottom before reality sinks in. But the real test will be how he responds on the ice.
A minor injury in Sunday's first exhibition game kept Setoguchi off ice for a few days, but after spelling out the organization's expectations for him in a couple of "great talks" prior to the start of camp, Hartley says so far so good.
"You look at his body fat and his conditioning, it's so much better," said Hartley. "I think that he kind of got the message over the summer and, so far, I would say he's buying in big time. There are still lots of battles to go, but I like what I've seen from Seto so far."
The Flames had two priorities this off-season – to get bigger and to get faster – and Raymond fits into the latter category. The Flames inserted him on a line with their teenage phenomenon, centre Sean Monahan, and veteran Jiri Hudler. Monahan, still just 19, is looking far more muscular than he did last season, when he scored 22 goals. If it sticks together, that line would likely be the team's top-scoring unit.
After scoring 45 points for the Leafs, Raymond said, teams showed an interest in him even before the July 1 opening of free-agency, thanks to a tweak in the collective bargaining agreement which permitted teams and players a five-day period to explore contract talks. Raymond had a couple of inquiries, but Calgary topped his list for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is coming home.
"I was fortunate to play with a lot of these guys during the lockout, so I'm comfortable in the room," said Raymond. "Being from the West, I wanted to be back in the West. It's not a secret, but I think the work ethic that's going on here is intriguing for any player to come into. Not only in hockey but in life, it opens a lot of doors."
Raymond made his way through an open door last year and earned himself a solid job. The challenge for Setoguchi is to do the same, and he's playing like he doesn't want his once-promising career to come to a grinding halt.
Funny how a little desperation can scare a young guy straight.