An exciting debut was somewhat overlooked by other circumstances on Monday night. That doesn't mean we weren't watching Denton Mateychuk closely. Overshadowed by the return of some guy that used to play here, I thought the young defenseman played well in his NHL debut.
Thrust right onto the second defense pairing with Ivan Provorov, Mateychuk skated 18:36 (fourth most amongst defensemen); credited with one hit, no shots, and an even +/- rating. In all, I didn't think he looked out of place.
He made mostly smart decisions with the puck, showing off his high end passing ability throughout the night. He did make a couple of glaring mistakes - one that resulted in an odd-man rush the other way - but, he was quick to recover and didn't look to be thrown off by anything last night.
It wasn't perfect, but there is a lot to work with...
The biggest issues I saw last night were in his defensive coverages. He seemed to be trying to do too much, which could just be nerves. On a few occasions, his reads were wrong and this led to uncontested shots from the Montreal Canadiens.
These issues can be worked out in time and with experience. This is why I believe he will probably finish out the balance of the season in the AHL, playing big minutes with the Cleveland Monsters.
I don't doubt that his offensive game is ready for the big time. He probably would have picked up his first NHL point on a ridiculous pass to Adam Fantilli right as the first period horn sounded (just needed one more second!). But, we don't want to see him get hemmed into his own end so much that it affects that offensive game. This would lead to benchings.
Could a second NHL game make a big difference?
I would be interested to see him get one more start in Columbus. This could help us clarify if the mistakes he made on Monday were just game one jitters, or if he actually does need more time to marinate in the AHL.
There's no doubt in my mind that his skating is good enough, and I thought he had a good stick on the defensive side of the puck. Obviously he can move the puck once he has it. Maybe giving him a look with a different defense partner could help? Or, keeping him with the same guy might provide some comfort so the team can see how ready he is.
Denton was sent back to the Cleveland Monsters last night, but this may have just been a paper move for the holiday. It will be interesting to see if he gets another shot with the Jackets later this week.