Columbus Blue Jackets: Sonny Milano Doesn’t Deserve More Ice Time
By William Espy
The Columbus Blue Jackets former first round pick is off to a very slow start.
The Columbus Blue Jackets used to have a lot of hope for forward Sonny Milano, but yearly that faith seems to dip a little. Last season, Milano put up a promising 22 points through 55 games, 14 of which were goals.
This season, he’s far from his regular form though. The 22-year old only has one point, a single goal through eight games. He’s on pace for roughly a 10 goal, 10 point season. Odds are he’ll pick up the pace at some point, but to this point he hasn’t deserved the increase in ice time he’s received.
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This season his high was 10:32 TOI against the Chicago Blackhawks, in a game that the Columbus Blue Jackets should have won but failed to perform offensively. It somewhat made sense following a goal in the previous game against the Philadelphia Flyers, but it seems like whenever Milano is given an opportunity he plays worse than when he’s given little chance to succeed.
The 6 foot tall, less than 200 pound speedy winger isn’t exactly a fit for the bottom six but surprisingly that’s where he plays best. He’s been passed on the depth chart by players like Anthony Duclair who have had a great start to the season.
Meanwhile, the former first round pick from 2014 named Sonny shows that it’s not always “Sonny in Columbus.” His struggles, specifically a turnover that resulted in a goal on Tuesday against the Coyotes are becoming more and more evident. On top of that, he is starting to make mental mistakes rather than just underperforming.
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If the Columbus Blue Jackets want to win, they need to play players who want to do well. Instead it seems as if they’re playing complacent players like Milano who continue to hurt the team more than help.