Trevor Kunar uses a positive approach to the struggles that every hockey player will inevitably endure. The resident of Williamsville said his parents, lessons and Faye, who have ingrained in him. So no matter how difficult the situation is, he refuses to have a negative view.
Kunar, 24, has just experienced a difficult season in which he fell out of the plans of the Boston Bruins. Fresh from a strong Rookie campaign with the Providence Bruins, when he cracked the line, his ice age fell to about 10 minutes per outing. He was 18 games like a healthy scratch for the AHL branch of Boston.
“I had no opportunity to show what I am capable of,” Kunar told The Times Herald.
Last month the Bruins did not give him a qualifying offer as a limited free agent, which made a prospect that they had prepared in the third round in 2020, 89th in general.
Nevertheless, Kunar, who recently signed a one-year AHL contract with the Rochester Americans, the top philiaest of the Buffalo Sabres, is grateful for what the difficult campaign and all that adversity have taught him.
“Maybe people see it as a down year, but I learned a lot,” he said.
Kunar said he leaned on some of the veterans of Providence, in particular Captain Patrick Brown, and refused to lower his work ethics when he earned limited action.
“Just come in every day and make sure that you get better, even if you are not in the line -up or even if you don’t play many minutes, who uses the hunger that I had in the right way, and just staying positive because you do what you love at the end of the day,” he said. “There are many beautiful moments in the future.”
Participating in the Buffalo organization Kunar, whose father, a former goalkeeper, played six games for the Montreal Canadiens in 1993-94 and 21 games for Rochester in 1996-97.
He called it “a big, complete circle moment.”
“I think it will be a new start,” said Boston College graduated. “I am just excited to have the chance to show where I am capable.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Kunar, which plays center and wing, could get the chance to ignite his career at the Amerks. At the moment he can enter the third or fourth rule.
Amerks coach Mike Leone and his staff often find roles for non-charged and undervalued players and help them develop and enjoy career-best seasons. Last year, for example, Bottom-Six Forward Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Graham Slaggert and Brendan Warren together to score 35 goals.
Leone, who grinded in the Echl and abroad during his short play career, has a special rating for players such as Kunar.
“I see myself as someone who likes to have teams in their team, but other teams hate to play,” said Kunar. “Personally, I want to be known as a player who is reliable, a strong two -way force that can produce and can also be well defensive.”
If Kunar can do that consistently – he scored 10 times as a Rookie before he collected only three goals last season – maybe he will earn another NHL contract. The Sabres reward players who produce on AHL deals. In the past month, Fiddler-Schultz and defender Zachary Metsa have earned two-way contracts each.
In Providence Kunar saw his teammate, Vooruit Justin Brazeau, saw an NHL contract and graduated from the big competitions.
“That was a great story,” he said. “It’s just those guys who look like they stay on it and just continue to work and are hungry to get better every day.”
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