Jeff Skinner wasn't sure if he'd be attending another Carolina Hurricanes training camp.
The 23-year-old heard the trade speculation this past summer, specifically around the NHL draft, when the Hurricanes reportedly made Skinner available to potential suitors.
Realizing the situation was out of his hands - and without a no-move clause in his contract - Skinner spent the summer focusing on what he could control: improving his game.
"There's not much I can do about it," Skinner told Chip Alexander of the News & Observer. "You hear all the talk, all the rumors. It's tough to build expectations because anything can happen. You look at all the deals leading up to the draft and at the draft, and lot of it you didn't see coming.
"I'm here, I love it here. I think in the summer when you hear all that stuff, that's all it is - just talk. You can't really do anything about it. You just focus on getting better."
Skinner scored 17 goals in 2014-15, down from the career-high 33 recorded the previous season, and even the 31 posted as a rookie in 2010-11. He did, however, record a Corsi rating of 51.5 at even strength, with a career-low shooting percentage of 7.3.
Despite a measure of bad luck, Skinner is intent on bouncing back in the statistical categories that mean the most.
"Every year you come in you've put in a summer's worth of training and you feel good and you want to improve on the last year, in all aspects of your game," he said. "During the summer you're able to reflect on how the season went and what you'd like to improve. It's important for me to have a good year."
Skinner will have to make good on this in order for the Hurricanes to be competitive in what is shaping up to be a ruthless Metropolitan Division.