Columbus Blue Jackets still seeking solution to Johnny Gaudreau, Patrik Laine conundrum
It’s been 15 months since Johnny Gaudreau signed with the Blue Jackets and the effort to figure out his best usage is ongoing.
Play him at left wing with Patrik Laine on the right? Put him on the left side with Laine at center? Force one of them to abandon their preferred setup location on the left wall during power plays? Split them onto different power play groups?
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It’s a hockey conundrum for the Jackets’ coaching staff, which has tried each of those options since Gaudreau’s Columbus debut last season. After a coaching change from Brad Larsen to Pascal Vincent, with a brief Mike Babcock interlude, the long-term answer to Gaudreau-Laine remains unresolved.
Going into a game Friday against Gaudreau’s former team, the Calgary Flames, they're on different lines and power play units.
“I’m not saying it doesn’t work and last year they had good games together, but we’re just trying to find what works now,” Vincent said Thursday. “I feel like there’s a good chemistry between Johnny and (Kirill) Marchenko. Somehow their style of play (fits). … But we know that Patrik and Johnny can play together. That’s not an issue.”
According to Natural Stat Trick, Gaudreau and Laine have skated together for 441:09 over 56 games at even strength since Gaudreau's Columbus arrival. The Blue Jackets are even in goals scored/allowed (22-22) but have generated 29 fewer scoring chances (231-260), 18 fewer high-danger chances (79-97) and scored seven fewer goals (5-12) on in those high-danger situations.
The Jackets have also struggled more with Gaudreau on the ice separately than Laine than with Laine on the ice separately from Gaudreau.
That may factor into the reason Gaudreau is now at left wing on center Boone Jenner’s line, skating opposite of Marchenko. Laine, meanwhile, has rookie Adam Fantilli and Alexandre Texier as wingers while he transitions to center.
On power plays, Vincent and assistant Marc Recchi are attempting to balance the skill of both units by splitting Gaudreau and Laine onto each. That solves the issue of Gaudreau and Laine each preferring to play the left side in a 1-3-1 power-play setup but blocks the possibility of them becoming a force together.
“That was the spot I was at for nine straight years in Calgary, so it all just comes a little more natural and comfortable over there,” Gaudreau said. “Patty’s got such a one-time threat (there). It’s hard to take (that) away from that spot because he’s got such a great shot, so I think the coaching staff tried something a little bit different. Instead of one (top) powerplay with five offensive guys, you’ve got two power play units who … you could have a 1A and a 1B.”
It hasn’t worked yet, which is a reminder that a two-word caveat to this is mandatory just three games into a season: “For now.”
For now, Gaudreau and Laine are split up. For now, the Blue Jackets are using them to balance lines and power play groups. Either thing could change if Vincent doesn’t like how things are going, which is grating at both stars.
“It would be easier to build chemistry when you’re on the ice at the same time,” Laine said. “It’s hard to build chemistry when you’re playing on different lines, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. When a team is losing, you look for different line combinations and all that, but it’s hard to build chemistry when you get to play a game together here and there, and then you lose, and everything switches again.”
Gaudreau agreed while acknowledging it’s been a challenge to fully click with Laine.
“When you have two players who are offensive, like we are, sometimes you both want the puck a little too long,” Gaudreau said. “Sometimes when you have that, it doesn’t mesh well right away, but you’ve got to stick with it. I’m sure we’ll play together again at some point and … we’ve just got to figure that out.”
Tough roster decision ahead for Columbus Blue Jackets
Zach Werenski (thigh contusion) is expected to be activated off injured reserve Friday after participating in practices Wednesday and Thursday. That will force the Jackets to make a corresponding roster move to create a spot for Werenski.
The easiest from a transaction standpoint would be reassigning rookie defenseman David Jiricek to AHL Cleveland, since that wouldn’t require waivers. That would also be a difficult decision because of Jiricek’s play in two games without Werenski. He scored his first NHL goal Saturday in a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers and showed significant defensive improvement Monday in a 4-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Other options include assigning a different waivers-exempt player to the AHL or placing a non-exempt player on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Cleveland. The Jackets did that last weekend with forward Eric Robinson to create a roster spot for Jiricek.
“That’s going to be a tough one,” Vincent said. “That’s something we need to talk with the management (about).”
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau has dimmer spotlight against Calgary Flames
Johnny Gaudreau and his former teammates on the Calgary Flames didn’t have time to get together Thursday for dinner the way they did a year ago. That rankled former Calgary coach Darryl Sutter following a victory for the Blue Jackets over the Flames, but no such controversy will happen this time.
Calgary will be finishing a back-to-back that began Thursday in Buffalo, while Gaudreau departs after the game for the Jackets’ back-to-back finale Saturday in Minnesota.
“I’m a little bit of old news now,” Gaudreau said. “I’m sure it’ll be a little different when we go out there (to Calgary), but it’s still exciting to play against them. I still have a lot of good buddies on that team.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets seek solution to Gaudreau, Laine usage
