Identity Confirmed? Jackets Dropped by Yotes
Playing at home last night, with the return of talented players Patrik Laine and Adam Boqvist; the Blue Jackets iced probably the most talented lineup they can put together with their current collection of players. This is the lineup that would have been easily penciled together before the preseason, and a lot of fans might have thought “playoffs”. But, if last night is indication, this team’s identity is missing in its current iteration.
We talked last week about this team finding its identity, and it really seems to be ringing true. Gone last night were two players who have brought an energetic spark to the team: Justin Danforth and Nick Blankenburg. Is it really possible that pulling out these two undersized, blue collar players, and replacing them with two highly talented former first round picks, actually hurt the team?
At first glance, it seems like that’s exactly what is going on. The team had no jump last night, looked careless even when they had a man advantage, and didn’t even push back until the game was 5-0; when it was well out of reach.
That isn’t to say that Laine or Boqvist were the problem. They’re terrific players, both signed to longer-term contracts for a reason. But Danforth and Blankenburg both bring a shift by shift effort that can get the bench going, even when things are tough. Both guys will battle against opposition players – regardless of size – while also bringing speed and some offensive upside.
In short, they’re underdogs … and that’s exactly the mentality that this team needs to rally around. They’re picked by a lot of experts to finish well outside of the playoff race, and early returns seem to indicate that will ring true. But, this is a talented team that can score in bunches, and should be able to out-score a lot of their defensive question marks. If they’re in the battle, they can seemingly play with – and beat – any team in the league.
We saw it in flashes against Pittsburgh, really for a long stretch of that game the Jackets were taking the fight to the Penguins. They dominated the Rangers the very next day, walloping them 5-1. But last night, against Arizona, they fell flat on their faces. I think that ties directly into losing good locker room guys; energy players like Danforth and Blankenburg. The mix just doesn’t look right without them.
All of this compounds the biggest issue the team has right now…
The defense corps is just too offensive with Boqvist in the lineup. We’ve mentioned this issue several times, there’s not enough actual defense with our defensemen. Having three players who are all offense is simply not going to work. Though admittedly, Jake Bean is improving in his own end – it’s still a work in progress.
Even the defensive minded guys leave something to desire. Here’s Andrew Peeke and Vladislav Gavrikov, getting worked by Connor Mc… no… Sidney Cro… no … uh, Zack Kassian:
First as a Coyote. ✅ pic.twitter.com/Yy4FPw8wEd
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) October 25, 2022
Nobody fits alongside Zach Werenski quite like Blankenburg has, there’s serious chemistry there. When those two are on the ice, the game just flows differently. Peeke has been filling in and generally does a nice job defensively, but things just don’t seem to work as well between he and Werenski. So everyone on the back end is thrust into roles they’re probably underprepared for, throwing everything out of rhythm right when the team seemed like it might be figuring things out on the blueline.
A glance up front brings a lot of the same concerns; is the mix right? Danforth is only a second year player, but he’s a hockey veteran. Unfortunately, he’s going to be out long term (maybe the rest of the season). His speed and tenacity earned him time on both special teams units, and he is a vital piece of the team’s bottom-six. Getting Laine back is huge and definitely makes this team more dangerous offensively – but who fills the role of a scrappy two-way energy guy like Danforth?
The star players on this team share a common theme: Laine, Johnny Gaudreau, Gustav Nyquist, Jakub Voracek, Jack Roslovic, and throw in Kent Johnson; are all super talented. But they’re also very laid back, which can be good and bad. Good in the sense that they don’t typically beat themselves up too much when they aren’t scoring. But bad in that kind of “drag me into the fight” way. That’s half of this team’s current selection of forwards, and I don’t think anyone would disagree that they simply weren’t visible until the final 10 minutes of the game last night.
All of this compounds the biggest issue the team has right now. The elephant in the room: goaltending. In years’ past we saw a lot of the issues here covered up by an elite goaltender. That isn’t happening now. In fact, they aren’t even getting marginal goaltending. They’re getting terrible goaltending, and last night was no exception. Both guys were objectively bad, and with the way this roster is constructed, they have to have their legs moving and score goals in bunches.
McBain wanted to join the party. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/EziOZjnurC
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) October 26, 2022
Even so, with your team averaging more than 4 goals against per game, you’re going to lose a lot. I don’t think Blankenburg or Danforth (or both) fix all of the issues with this team, but they at least brought some energy and drug these guys into the battle. That’s the identity we missed last night. It seemed like they just assumed they were going to win, and in the NHL that’s a deadly way to play. Even against the Coyotes.
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