PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Redemption doesn't always come in a big box with shiny paper and a bow. Sometimes, redemption is delivered piecemeal, in dribs and drabs.
That doesn't make it any less delicious or meaningful.
Ask Justin Schultz, who has gone from favorite whipping boy of Edmonton Oilers fans and the poster boy for unfulfilled expectations to being not just a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins but, in recent days, an important part of the team's blue-line corps.
With the injury suffered by Trevor Daley in the second period of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, Schultz's role is only going to be enhanced as the Penguins attempt to advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 2009. Game 5 of the series with the Tampa Bay Lightning goes at 8 p.m. ET Sunday in Pittsburgh.
Schultz is careful to not cast aspersions on the Oilers or his stint with the team. But it's clear that his time there nearly broke him.
Drafted in the second round (43rd overall) by the Anaheim Ducks in 2008, Schultz became a free agent after he couldn't come to terms with the Ducks. That's when his skating ability and wicked shot made him one of the most high-profile, highly sought after collegiate free agents in years.
He chose Edmonton, and there was rejoicing. A highly skilled defenseman who actually wanted to be in Edmonton and wanted to be part of the perpetual rebuild of the Oilers?
But after a promising rookie year that saw him score 27 points in the lockout-shortened, 48-game 2013 season, the wheels came off. By the end, Schultz was a healthy scratch, and when he played, he did not play well. He was booed by fans and shredded by the media.
At the age of 25, the native of Kelowna, British Columbia, admitted in a quiet conversation with a couple of reporters that he wondered if a door would open anywhere else in the NHL.
"It definitely went through your mind," Schultz said. "Obviously, the last couple weeks there in Edmonton weren't the greatest. It wasn't very much fun for me. But luckily enough, I did get that chance, and I'm just trying to take advantage of it."
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford acquired Schultz at the trade deadline for a third-round pick in this year's draft. The Oilers agreed to retain half of Schultz's $3.9 million salary.
Although Schultz has played in only six of the Penguins' 15 postseason games, he has been in the lineup for the past three in place of the struggling Olli Maatta, and he has played well.
"I think it's hard, mentally, for guys to adjust quickly when you've kind of been beat on where you're coming from," Rutherford said. "He found a way to do that. We have good people working with him, but he's the guy that had to do it, and he figured out a way to adjust."
Schultz played three years at the University of Wisconsin under highly regarded collegiate coach Mike Eaves, who describes him as one of the most talented players he ever coached. Schultz had skills that can't be taught, including a tremendous skating ability and a hard, accurate shot, but he matched that natural skill with his work ethic, Eaves said.
The coach admitted that he was surprised Schultz wasn't able to find success with the Oilers, but he understands the dynamics when a player stops believing in himself.
"The one tool we don't talk about enough is confidence, and when you lose that, you fall into a precarious crevice," said Eaves, who played 324 games for the Minnesota North Stars and Calgary Flames. "I see some of that coming back.
"When you feel that trust from your coach, it does volumes for your confidence. You say, 'Hey, maybe I'm back.' Good for Justin for taking advantage of that."
Longtime NHL defenseman Steve Smith coached Schultz early in his career in Edmonton and likewise was surprised that Schultz's career didn't continue its upward arc. Smith recalled explaining to the shy Schultz that his ice time and the situations he was put in would be determined by things such as talking to coaches or defense partners after each shift, working out every day and spending time after practice working on elements of his game. Schultz responded.
"He's a highly motivated player," said Smith, who is now on Bill Peters' coaching staff with the Carolina Hurricanes. "He was really a guy I cheered for after I left."
Among those who have worked closely with Schultz since he arrived in Pittsburgh is longtime NHL defenseman Sergei Gonchar. If confidence is a nebulous thing, Gonchar said it's easy to see when players don't have it in today's NHL.
"It's huge nowadays because the game is so fast, and if you don't have it, and if you're out there and you hesitate for a second, pressure is coming, the people are right on you," Gonchar said. "They're trying to take that time away, that confidence away from you. So I think to have that, to have that belief in yourself, is a very big part of the game.
"I think one of the reasons he's improving is because he's getting [his confidence] back."
In Game 3 of the conference finals against the Lightning, Schultz found himself working a power play with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, which resulted in a goal. It was a pinch-me moment, to be sure.
In Game 4, with Daley injured and the Pens threatening to erase a 4-0 deficit, Schultz was on the ice for another Pittsburgh power-play goal, and he drew an assist. Then he was out there in the waning seconds, pressing for a tying goal.
He has gone from cannon fodder for fans and media in one city to being two wins from a spot in the Stanley Cup finals in another. It's funny how life works sometimes, no?
"A second chance," Schultz said of the move to the Penguins. "My confidence was pretty low near the end of my time in Edmonton. [Being traded] just gave me more confidence. Even before I played a game, I got more confidence just being in a new environment."
With all that has transpired, it isn't surprising that Schultz, who will become a restricted free agent this summer, is taking none of this for granted and isn't looking too far ahead to things suchas the finals.
"Yeah, when you think about it, I never would have thought that I'd be in the Eastern Conference final, two wins away from being in the Stanley Cup final," he said. "I'm so grateful that I got this chance and this team believed in me."