Monday's news: Can Kevin Klein step up for the Predators?

“There’s no service up there,” [Tootoo] grins. “So I tell people that if you want to get a hold of me, you have to come and find me.”

Klein is right up there with Franson as my “put up or shut up” guys this season. Klein has very poor practice habits that improved only slightly last season when he became a regular in the lineup. His game play has also been very inconsistent and he needs to really step up both his physical play and reads in traffic to become a top-4 guy. He has a lot to prove to not only me, but to the coaching staff as well this season. It is a contract year for him too and with Hamhuis a UFA at season’s end, Klein’s future in this organization will be written this season.

IMO, it all starts with his work ethic in practice. He cannot simply be a “game” player. Far too often the past two seasons a traffic cone would have been more of a challenge in practice than Klein has been. It cheats not only himself, but his teammates as well who need to be challenged to improve themselves. I really hope that with becoming a father late last season for the first time and getting away to spend time with his family this summer, that Klein will return with a new level of maturity and realize the privilege he has of playing in the NHL and make the most of the opportunity presented to him this summer to establish himself further up the depth charts.

Klein’s got a lot to prove this season…

First I learn that Mathieu Schneider signed with the Nucks and then I read that Coach Trotz is asking Kevin Klein, “Can you handle the pressure of being in the top four…?”

http://www.fromtherink.com/2009/8/31/1008593/meet-the-man-tasked-with-saving

By way of explanation, I was remembering Schneider in 2007 at the Joe when, In a 25-second span of the second period, he put Detroit ahead of the Predators 3-2 with his 200th NHL goal and helped tie the game with an assist. Then I thought of recent games at Sommet Center when Klein’s inexperience led to scoring opportunities for opponents on too many occasions. (Since we’re in Section 101 so we devote an inordinate amount of attention to the Predators defense!)