Under ordinary circumstances, the Ontario Reign’s John Wroblewski would be deep into the third month of the AHL schedule. Instead, the newly minted Reign coach is in a hockey holding pattern like the rest of us, waiting for the sport’s resumption.

But he’s been hard at work since moving to Southern California from Detroit in early October with his wife, Ashley, and his son, Rory, who is 19 months old. Wroblewski has immersed himself in the organization, mostly consisting of regular meetings with Kings coach Todd McLellan and McLellan’s staff.

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With the Kings trending younger and moving into the next phase of the rebuild, his hire was one of the most important moves of their offseason. Previously, Wroblewski was head coach of the U.S. National Team Development Program U18 team, based in Plymouth, Mich.

Eight of his players were selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft, including Alex Turcotte (No. 5) by the Kings and Trevor Zegras (No. 9) by the Anaheim Ducks. Wisconsin born and raised Wroblewski, who played for Notre Dame and appeared in 273 games with ECHL Fresno, took time recently to speak with The Athletic about his career path, the influences of coaches John Hynes and the late Tim Taylor and his impressions of Kings prospects Turcotte and Arthur Kaliyev as well as the Ducks’ Zegras, among other subjects.

 The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Are you the most famous hockey figure from Neenah, Wisconsin?

I guess I’ve never thought about it that way. There’s a lot of people in my hometown that know how to skate, that play hockey on the ponds or at the park. Not a lot of people have gone on to play or coach professionally. There was a kid that came up a couple of years after me — John Michell — not the one that played in the NHL, but I believe he ended up playing some games in the American League. He was a pretty, pretty good college player too. He played at Wisconsin. He was a good player. I’d be in the short conversation.

You played at an elite college level and also ground it out in the ECHL with Fresno. Do you think those experiences gave you a greater appreciation for how hard it is for players to get to a certain point and stay there?

No doubt. For the longest time, a lot of my peers that ended up making the NHL went about their business. I wouldn’t call it cruise control because they’re working their ass off the whole way. But they were set in their ways. Whereas somebody like myself who never got the call or wasn’t successful in college right away and had to constantly find ways — why isn’t this working? You developed a different learning pattern and also a way of thinking about success. Having that perspective has gone a long way for me, not only to think about the game differently but what a player who is struggling might be thinking. And to also to appreciate the opportunities that are there. I get to throw on an Ontario Reign jacket every day and I look at the L.A. Kings symbols every day and it’s a dream come true.

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Are there one or two coaches who have been particularly influential on your career?

When I first got into coaching, I got to learn from some people right away. That formed my passion for coaching. I didn’t envision myself being a coach when I played. I knew I was going to stay in hockey. But I envisioned myself trying to get into a managerial role, maybe being a president of a team one day or a GM. I was fortunate enough to learn (at NTDP) from (John Hynes) about the passion that it takes to coach, the detail that it takes to coach, and if you are going to go in on something you better be all in. He gave me that confidence – to put yourself out there and to see if you wanted to do it. Alongside him was Tim Taylor who was working for USA Hockey as an ‘assistant’ for a year with (Hynes). You talk about that word passion and you could see how it still burned for Tim after all these years. He had cancer tests we didn’t know about and he was just burning the candle at both ends working on what he loved to do. What I learned there — if you aren’t all-in on this, just get the hell out and go get a desk job. It turned out I did have the energy and spirit for the game. It’s something that just always called me and I’m glad it found me again.

What was the difference in Alex Turcotte when he showed up in the program Day 1 to when he departed?

It’s a tough one because he’s still very much the same young man, hardworking and respectful. His confidence is cemented is how I’d like to put it. He’s always had belief in his game and belief in himself. Teenage years are hard on everybody. He’s looking around the room and trying to figure out where he fits in amongst Jack Hughes and Trevor Zegras. He has a strong belief in who he is as a person and who he is as a hockey player. From the time we got him, he was a selfless player. He was a leader. And he was a fiery player. That’s still who he is as a player.

It’s quite a coincidence the two friends — Turcotte and Zegras – landed in Southern California with rival NHL teams. How do you see that playing out between them?

They were in a sink-or-swim scenario where you had so many strong personalities and so many strong games. Instead of dropping down or letting someone become the alpha, they rose together and got more confident and more talkative at the same time. They’re such good friends but you’re going to see the competitiveness between Alex and Trevor for a long time. On the ice, Trevor doesn’t stop talking. He’ll be yapping and we’ll be doing everything to take him off his game. It’ll be really cool to see how both of those guys acclimate to the NHL. Alex is a bulldog. He’ll be snarling at Trevor. You’ll see that for a long time from those guys. None of them — except for Jack (Hughes) — had that elite confidence when they came in. Not a lot of kids do at 16. But they all kind of found it together. Those two did blossom, not only on the ice. They’ve just got to make sure that confidence isn’t misconstrued as cockiness.

From your observations, what can you tell me about Arthur Kaliyev that may not be so widely known?

The things that you see on the highlight reel are exactly why fans should be excited about him. He’s got a cannon for a shot and hopefully, it’s going to be a weapon for the Kings down the line. The only thing for Art is to realize — I think he has an appreciation — it’s just got to be in his DNA is that the shot can’t define him. He’s got to make sure that he understands and appreciates the momentum of the game. Then use that weapon as a calling card at the very end, his stamp on his game, as opposed to what he’s known for exclusively. That’s difficult for a young player. If you could go out and score two goals and not have to run around very much in youth hockey, I understand why guys might play that way. I know that he’s got an engine. He’ll work and do all the things that he needs to do to make the NHL. A likable kid too, a great smile, great heart, a kid that will hopefully endear himself to the L.A. fan base. With all these kids, there’s a level of patience that needs to be there with Art as well. Let him let learn the game. Let him find his way and hopefully one day he’ll be a star for the Kings.

With this particular group of prospects, how does a coach balance the goals of development and the bottom line of wins and losses?

At the NTDP, there was always an underlying current that the wins and losses didn’t matter. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We felt the wins took care of themselves. There was a way to get the most out of your players during the week, but then still have the competitive fire and show up and compete on the weekends. You wouldn’t be a hockey player, a hockey coach if you didn’t show up and want to win. Winning and development go hand in hand. They have to make mistakes and then they have to learn from them. Maybe you have a little bit more leash for that at the American League level. But the player needs to understand that by the time they reach the NHL, that that leash gets pretty tight. That’s a huge part of developing as well, you want to win at the American League level, but you also want to win the right way. You want to make sure that the players are adhering to the cultural values of your organization. So it’s a very difficult answer. I’ve been asked this in every single interview. How do you marry the two items? To me, it is all about developing the individual to make sure that their strengths are bolstered through the team’s identity.

(Photo: Russell Hons / Cal Sport Media via AP Images)

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