RALEIGH, N.C. -- It's barely been two years since Riley Nash was declared a bust by an Edmonton columnist.
Drafted No. 21 overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2007, he played just a handful of games for the organization and spent all his time in the ECAC. The organization lost patience and traded him to Carolina in 2010.
Nothing has come easily, or quickly, to the 25-year-old center. But in the midst of a breakout season, it's clear that the label of "bust" was more than a little premature.
When it was clear in the preseason that Jordan Staal was going to be out for a long time, it became even more clear that Nash's role would get a lot bigger. His importance increased when Staal's brother and team captain Eric went out with an injury early in the season.
His role has grown. And he's been ready for it. Nash has centered a line with Nathan Gerbe and Elias Lindholm, and he's been at a plus-7 this year, even as the team has just three wins.
Nash played just 37 games in his first two seasons with the organization until last year, when he saw action in 73 games. But this year, he's played in all 11 and his average time on ice has gone up from 12:40 to 17:56.
Nash, though, doesn't feel like his role is all that different, or that the new staff under first-year head coach Bill Peters is treating him any differently.
"You just try and earn ice time. You try and work as hard as possible. You try and gain as much trust and you try and help the team win. That's pretty much all it is," Nash said. "We have a lot of guys in here that have bought into the system. Some guys are playing 18 minutes. Some guys are playing 10 minutes. Some guys are playing 13 minutes. It doesn't matter.
"When you get out there, those minutes are vital and important. If we can gain momentum on each and every shift, then we should be okay."
That buy-in has finally started to pay off, as the Hurricanes went from the only winless team left in the league to winners of three straight.
Nash, though, was playing well even before the winning streak began. He's on pace to finish with more points than he had in his first three seasons with the Hurricanes combined (34) as he already has eight points through 11 games.
"I think it's confidence," line mate Gerbe said. "Last year, you could tell he was developing, getting his own comfort in his game. I think now, you can see it. He's poised with the puck. He's making good decisions. He's playing a well-rounded game, which is hard to do so he's doing a good job of it.
"I think all professional athletes, it's mental. To take that next step, you have to be mentally ready and also believe in yourself. I think that's something that's big."
Perhaps his biggest contribution, though, has been on the faceoff.
Last year, the Hurricanes had faceoff specialist Manny Malhotra, and Nash spent plenty of time learning tricks from him. Malhotra finished second in the league in that category (59.4 percent) and is third this year for Montreal (63.1 percent).
Malhotra won 566 faceoffs and lost 386. This year, Nash is on pace to win 723 and lose 618. That 53.9 percent finish would have placed him 20th in the league last year. And it's eight percentage points higher than his career high percentage (45.9 percent last season).
"It's something that was looked at as a weakness and obviously, I don't really want weaknesses in my game and I'm sure anyone doesn't," Nash said. "It's something that has to be taken care of and so far, so good this year. It's a long season. There's 70-some odd games left, so it's got to be an uphill battle the whole way and it's got to keep getting better and better."
Nash learned a few tricks from Malhotra last year, of course, but Gerbe also said that he's been working with Hurricanes assistant coach Rod Brind'Amour, who was regarded as one of the best at faceoffs during his long NHL career.
But Nash insisted that he hasn't learned a new move or added some sort of secret trick.
"I think just finally understanding and being confident in there, going with what I believe, going in there knowing that my move is good enough to win the faceoff every time," Nash said. "The other guy has to believe in himself, but it just comes down to a 1-on-1 battle. Then my wingers on top of that have been wining a lot of 50-50 pucks for me, so that's been a huge help too."
The chemistry he has developed with Gerbe and Lindholm on their productive line has been a key to Nash's resurgence, too.
"I've been a player that the more and more comfortable I get in a room, the better I play, just the more comfortable with my line mates, Gerbs and Lindy and playing with (Jeff) Skinner a bit, I'm just comfortable out there," Nash said. "We know where each other are going to be and I think that's just paying off right now."
Lindholm has had a resurgence of late too, getting five of his six points this season in the last three games (all wins) and scoring all three of his goals during this stretch, too.
The three just seem to know each other very well. And while they all spent time playing together with the Charlotte Checkers, they just have a certain feel for each other.
"Me and Lindy have always played pretty well together. We have similar games and I think we think the game fairly similar," Nash said. "So it's nice to have him out there. I kind of know where he's going to be when I have the puck. I think he knows where I'm going to be when he has the puck. That's something that you can't really teach.
"It just happens with certain guys and you'll see that throughout the lineup, that some guys click together and some guys don't. Right now, we're being rewarded and just doing the right things and continuing to doing the right things, the points aren't always going to come like this but if you continue to work the way we are, we should be okay."
Like the rest of the team in general, hard work is being rewarded. Playing the right way, the way Peters wants them to play, is being rewarded.
When Nash was drafted back in 2007, he was known as a two-way center. Until a few years ago, he was known as a guy who never quite panned out or developed sufficiently to play on this level.
So much for that.
"I just think it's a well-rounded game. Defensively, he's been smart and steady, not getting beat too much," Gerbe said. "When you do that, you get your chances offensively and I think that's kind of the main goal of our team."
