It’s Time To Play the Kids

While I get that it’s important to have balance in the lineup, at some point you simply have to let talent play together…

When you pull it all together, it makes no sense to not be playing these guys top-six minutes. The team is out of contention for a playoff spot. They’re riddled with injuries and are playing inconsistently, with a handful of guys on the roster who should be in the AHL. And, most importantly … the kids are actually playing really well. 

Yegor Chinakhov has been nothing short of dynamic. I would argue that he’s been the team’s most dangerous offensive player outside of Johnny Gaudreau this season. He’s third on the team in scoring, in spite of the fact that it honestly feels like he’s been snake bitten. His average time on ice? 13:10, which is 22nd amongst skaters for the CBJ this season. This is inexplicable.

With Laine out of the lineup, you have an obvious replacement here. Chinakhov has the second most dangerous shot on the team – arguably one of the best releases in the NHL. At times, he might even be as lethal as Laine. But nobody knows about it because he doesn’t play. Why isn’t he playing on that top line with Gaudreau? Even with Laine in the lineup, it would make sense to try him out and spread the scoring around.

But Yegor sits at almost three and a half minutes less per game than Jack Roslovic, whose play earned him a healthy scratch. If Roslovic has been so disappointing, while Chinakhov stands out, why does Jack get so much more ice time?

Just behind Chinakhov in ice time per game? Kent Johnson, at 12:39. In spite of the low minutes and the fact that he’s only played in 15 of the team’s 18 games, Johnson is tied with Sean Kuraly for fourth on the team in scoring. But of the lineup regulars, only Mathieu Olivier (11:01) and Liam Foudy (11:09) average fewer minutes per game than Johnson.

Johnson and Gaudreau have obvious chemistry – they combined to set up Boone Jenner for easy tap in goals in back to back games last week. They’re clearly the two most skilled players on the team; a team that has struggled to find consistency in its game all season. How many players would take this pass from Johnny and fire it at the net from this angle? My guess is, probably most.

While I get that it’s important to have balance in the lineup, at some point you simply have to let talent play together. Would a Gaudreau-Johnson-Chinakhov line get caved in from time to time and give up some goals? Absolutely. But every line on the team has done that consistently this season – that’s been the one thing that’s consistent with this team.

What every line hasn’t done consistently: handle the puck and score goals. Sometimes your best defense is a shift in the offensive zone, and I feel like this trio could do that. So give it a chance, Lars.

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If nothing else, the team continues to play itself out of contention, but you start developing the youngsters. Let them work out who they have chemistry with. Separate the future core from the pretenders. But continuing to roll out the same players every other shift, isn’t helping this team develop. In fact, we could argue that it’s holding them back.

It’s time to play the kids.