Columbus Blue Jackets: Duclair & Werenski Losing Ice Time
By William Espy
The Columbus Blue Jackets are continuing to win, but two of their best players are continuously facing cuts in ice time.
Anthony Duclair is tied for second on the Columbus Blue Jackets in goals yet he continues to be given almost abysmal amounts of ice time. Zach Werenski is producing from the blue line, however his ice time continues to be cut for seemingly no reason.
While head coach John Tortorella typically is a reliable coach in terms of playing players who deserve the ice time, these two seem to make even the biggest Tortorella fans scratch their heads.
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Last night against the Dallas Stars, Werenski had 14:27 of ice time, less than five games after playing over 25 minutes per game.
Meanwhile Anthony Duclair still hasn’t been given time to produce at even strength despite being one of the most consistent power play scorers. Last night, Duclair had less than 8 minutes of ice time and is seemingly being punished for playing well above expectations. While he’s not a first line player by any stretch, he’s certainly better than a bottom line time filler player.
The fact that Boone Jenner and Oliver Bjorkstrand are getting more ice time than Anthony Duclair, despite Duclair’s substantially higher production is a slap in the face to the first year Blue Jacket.
The only defenseman who had less ice time than Zach Werenski on Monday night was Scott Harrington who sat out the entirety of the third period, despite Werenski being one of the Blue Jackets’ star defensemen.
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John Tortorella has the faith of a majority of Columbus Blue Jackets fans, however a majority of his decisions as of late have been questionable. While they’re leading to short term success, this type of coaching can be detrimental to the franchise in the long run especially in regards to morale.