WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ When Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz talks about the team's game in Edmonton Friday, he almost sounds like someone who knows they're about to run into an ex.
Things are amicable now, sure, but there's a lot of history there. Schultz said this will be his first time back in Edmonton since the end of last season, when _ like after any breakup _ he had to go back to get his stuff.
"It'll be weird," Schultz said after the Penguins' 7-4 win against the Jets Wednesday. "I guess it's different. They're in a new rink now, so that'll help. But I'll be pretty nervous before that game. It's been a while now, over a year."
More than a year since the Oilers _ at the time the only NHL team Schultz had ever known _ traded him to the Penguins in exchange for a third-round pick.
Schultz, 26, was a highly touted prospect out of the University of Wisconsin. But he joined an Edmonton team in the midst of a long and arduous rebuilding process.
In Schultz's first season with the Oilers, the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign, they finished 12th in the Western Conference. It was the highest finish in the standings Schultz would ever see in Edmonton.
Schultz showed some flashes but largely got lost on a floundering Oilers team. His best Corsi season with the Oilers came in 2014-15, when he posted a Corsi For percentage (CF percent) of 50.4. The stat measures the percentage of total shots a team takes at even strength when a player is on the ice. Unsurprisingly, that was also the season in which Schultz saw the highest percentage of offensive zone starts in his career.
Since joining the Penguins, Schultz has completely reinvented himself as a potential top-pairing defenseman. He has already surpassed his career high in points with 45 (12 goals, 33 assists) this season and has become one of the most reliable options on a blue line battling injuries.
"I didn't think I'd be playing this well at this point last year," Schultz said. "It was a rough go, but I just needed a new environment, a change of scenery."
The Penguins have deployed Schultz in a role that suits his style more, with a 57.3 offensive zone start percentage (oZS percent), and he has parlayed that into a 52.0 CF percent, the highest of his career.
"I got lucky getting traded to this team," Schultz said. "They knew how to win, and they've got a lot of veteran players that helped me along the way, coaches that played me to my strengths, and it's been fun."
Things have worked out well for the Oilers, too. While they'd probably like to add this version of Schultz back to their blue line, wunderkind Connor McDavid has Edmonton in strong position to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
"You knew that was going to happen with McDavid there," Schultz said. "He's unbelievable. They're having a good year, fighting for a playoff spot, and it'll be a tough game for us."
The Penguins and Oilers will play Friday in the sparkling new Rogers Place, which opened this season, so Schultz won't be faced with the memories associated with the Rexall Place, which he called home for his three-plus seasons in Edmonton.
Schultz is still close with several players on the Oilers and planned on spending time this week with his good friend and Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Even if some of the ending was bittersweet, Schultz said he still has fond memories of his time in Edmonton.
"I loved it there," he said. "I met a lot of good people, still have a lot of friends that are playing there. It'll be interesting to go back, but I enjoyed my time there. It was the start of my NHL career, so I have no regrets."
