GLENDALE, Ariz. — Anthony DeAngelo walked briskly out of the Coyotes player lounge, smiling and soaking wet from the practice he had just completed at Gila River Arena. It was as if the past had slowly seeped out his pores in the first three days of training camp, offering a fresh start courtesy of a draft-day trade between the Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s nice to get back on the ice and start getting into full-practice shape,” DeAngelo said. “In the summer, we have some skates but it’s nothing like being in a full-pace practice. It’s a new start with a different team. I’m viewing it as an opportunity and I need to make the best of it.”

DeAngelo has some proving to do — on the ice and off it. He was Tampa’s first-round pick in 2014 (19th overall). He boasts speed, skill and a right-handed shot, a precious combination in a modern-day NHL defensemen.

DeAngelo played with Syracuse of the AHL last season where he had six goals and 43 points, but red flags have accompanied him since his junior days, and they accompanied him again on that draft-day trade. It’s rare that a team is willing to move a first-round pick so quickly.

DeAngelo was a healthy scratch eight times last season due to performance and attitude issues. Two years ago in juniors at Sarnia (OHL), he was suspended twice for verbal abuse of a teammate and an official.

Coyotes GM John Chayka had inspected every detail of DeAngelo’s past before he chose to make the deal. He believes DeAngelo is also painfully aware of those details, and ready to learn from them.

“He’s got some maturing to do both on and off the ice but when you get a chance to get a talent like that for the 37th overall pick, for me the risk profile was right,” Chayka said after the NHL Draft.

DeAngelo offers no shortage of confidence in his offensive game, but there is good reason for that.

“He’s a really, really great competitor, he obviously has great offensive tools and he’s really poised with the puck,” Coyotes associate coach Jim Playfair said. “He’s the model of today’s defenseman in the NHL.”

It’s the other areas that will determine whether DeAngelo sees time this season with the NHL club, or plays the season with Tucson of the American Hockey League.

“That’s the balance I’m trying to strike with this kid,” said Playfair, who coaches the defensemen. “How does he pick up what I’m laying down? How much is he going to view as being important information? I think he’s gotten a sense that a lot of my stuff is only going to be about the defensive side of the game, which isn’t true. It’s a 200-foot by 85-foot teaching focus we have with the group and he’s no different.

“In order for him to be an NHL player, there are some things that are non-negotiable to adapt to this level and win at this level. You can play the way you want to play but is that conducive to the team winning consistently? That’s the message we’re going to have to work on with him and he’s going to have to want to buy into it.”

Playfair watched video with DeAngelo last week to examine how he was managing his ice and his positioning when he doesn’t have the puck. DeAngelo professes a commitment to understanding those nuances.

“I want to turn into a good, two-way defenseman,” he said. “I think I have the offensive part, but taking care of defense as well is something that’s important.”

DeAngelo spent three weeks in Arizona getting to know the players and the organization. He also said he gained valuable experience playing in the AHL last season.

“It was another opportunity to get more ice and experience playing pro, but I think the biggest difference everybody knows is the level of players throughout the whole roster,” he said. “They’re older and more skilled so it helps to play against that kind of competition.”

DeAngelo was scheduled to be in the lineup again on Monday when the Coyotes took on the Canucks in a preseason game in Vancouver. The coaching staff wants to get as many looks at him as possible, and they want to see how he will incorporate Playfair’s teachings. DeAngelo knows that this week will determine whether he’s living in the Phoenix area or greater Tucson.

“You have to work on your deficiencies but to make a team you also have to show your best stuff,” he said. “I want to just move the puck and skate and think the game. Those are my best assets so in this preseason I’m going to try to use them.”