Line Combos: CBJ Roster Discussion/Line Combos/Injury Report

[CBJWerenski8]

Waddell has been watching closely every aspect of the Blue Jackets organization. He has his coach in place after hiring Dean Evason a month into his Columbus tenure. Now, as his first season unfolds, he’s watching the roster closely, admiring the young talent and trying to figure out which veterans will be part of the mix going forward.

This may take some time, but that’s not because Waddell plans to slow-roll it. To the contrary.

“I like a lot of the young guys,” Waddell said. “We hope they continue to grow. It’s an important year for them to keep maturing, not only as players but as people. If they do that, we’re in pretty good shape for the future.

“Saying that, we’re going to have to add some more pieces next summer; we know that. Going into next summer, we’re going to have lots of cap space. We’re not going to waste it, we’re going to spend it wisely. We’ve already started talking about what areas we need to identify.”

Waddell wasn’t out of work long, but he believes he’s landed well. He’s knee-deep in another project, trying to get the Blue Jackets to achieve the same sustained success as the Hurricanes, but perhaps with more postseason success.

“I was really excited by the opportunity here right from the moment I heard from the Blue Jackets, honestly,” Waddell said. “And it’s been everything I’d hoped and more. The city is great. The fans have been great. The players have played hard almost every night.

“We’ve been through some stuff, some rough patches (on the ice). But I really love it here. It’s been a perfect fit.”

Get ready for an active few months here

 

[cbjthrowaway]

just throwing it out there because it was lost in the KJ/werenski/monahan stuff from last night. there's another forward on this roster who is absolutely flying under the radar right now.

i was curious, so i went ahead and pulled some data for a blind comp.

one of these is a current CBJ forward's pace for this season. the other two are standout seasons from two former CBJ forwards.

	Player A	Player B	Player C
Stat line (82-game adjusted)	17-37–54	13-39–52	13-47–60
Removing PP stats	12-31–43	13-39–52	11-35–46
Shooting %	8.5%	7.3%	11.9%
TOI/GP	18:47	18:06	18:23

i adjusted each stat line for 82 games. without looking, can anyone guess which is which?

 

[MoeBartoli]

just throwing it out there because it was lost in the KJ/werenski/monahan stuff from last night. there's another forward on this roster who is absolutely flying under the radar right now.

i was curious, so i went ahead and pulled some data for a blind comp.

one of these is a current CBJ forward's pace for this season. the other two are standout seasons from two former CBJ forwards.

	Player A	Player B	Player C
Stat line (82-game adjusted)	17-37–54	13-39–52	13-47–60
Removing PP stats	12-31–43	13-39–52	11-35–46
Shooting %	8.5%	7.3%	11.9%
TOI/GP	18:47	18:06	18:23

i adjusted each stat line for 82 games. without looking, can anyone guess which is which?

I know player B is Roslovic just because I know he’s had no PP points

 

[cbjthrowaway]

I know player B is Roslovic just because I know he’s had no PP points

i can confirm that player B is not, in fact, jack roslovic.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

just throwing it out there because it was lost in the KJ/werenski/monahan stuff from last night. there's another forward on this roster who is absolutely flying under the radar right now.

i was curious, so i went ahead and pulled some data for a blind comp.

one of these is a current CBJ forward's pace for this season. the other two are standout seasons from two former CBJ forwards.

	Player A	Player B	Player C
Stat line (82-game adjusted)	17-37–54	13-39–52	13-47–60
Removing PP stats	12-31–43	13-39–52	11-35–46
Shooting %	8.5%	7.3%	11.9%
TOI/GP	18:47	18:06	18:23

i adjusted each stat line for 82 games. without looking, can anyone guess which is which?

B might be Sillinger? He's the one I'd say has been flying under the radar and I just assume that the stat with no PP points would be related to the under-the-radar player.

The other two... former CBJ forwards, you say? Atkinson comes to mind, since he plays in Tampa? Or is this a centre thing? Maybe Dubois is C and A is Roslovic? Beats me.

EDIT: I said Roslovic because the only other centre of note I can think of is Fedorov. Carter and the words "standout season" I don't think will ever be in the same sentence when describing his time in Columbus.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

B might be Sillinger? He's the one I'd say has been flying under the radar and I just assume that the stat with no PP points would be related to the under-the-radar player.

The other two... former CBJ forwards, you say? Atkinson comes to mind, since he plays in Tampa? Or is this a centre thing? Maybe Dubois is C and A is Roslovic? Beats me.

EDIT: I said Roslovic because the only other centre of note I can think of is Fedorov. Carter and the words "standout season" I don't think will ever be in the same sentence when describing his time in Columbus.

you got B correct – it is indeed cole sillinger this season.

• he's being used as a matchup forward and seems to be getting the hardest matchups of any CBJ forward (last night was against kucherov)
• he hasn't exactly been given linemates who light it up (lots of pyyhtia and now olivier) – players A and C had significantly stronger linemates imo
• his stats are more impressive when you factor in the whole "zero power play points" thing

i'd argue that, given that context, sillinger's season (so far obviously) compares extremely favorably to players A and C.

as far as who players A and C could be, i'll tell you that neither of them are roslovic, dubois, atkinson, fedorov or carter. hint: both played center, and both made the playoffs in those seasons.

 

[Viqsi]

you got B correct – it is indeed cole sillinger this season.

• he's being used as a matchup forward and seems to be getting the hardest matchups of any CBJ forward (last night was against kucherov)
• he hasn't exactly been given linemates who light it up (lots of pyyhtia and now olivier) – players A and C had significantly stronger linemates imo
• his stats are more impressive when you factor in the whole "zero power play points" thing

i'd argue that, given that context, sillinger's season (so far obviously) compares extremely favorably to players A and C.

as far as who players A and C could be, i'll tell you that neither of them are roslovic, dubois, atkinson, fedorov or carter. hint: both played center, and both made the playoffs in those seasons.

If it doesn't have to be this season, then I'd guess one of them is Antoine Vermette - probably C. I don't know about the other.

EDIT: I looked at Vermette's historic stats and I am wrong.

EDIT 2: Reading the hints that much more closely, I'm going to hazard another guess because it'd be just the perfect "gotcha" name - Brandon Dubinsky.

EDIT 3: I am wrong again and will stop guessing now.

EDIT 4: I couldn't stop there. But this time I looked before posting the guess. Accordingly I'm not posting it. But it's one that should have occurred to me earlier for similar "has a hatedom in the fanbase" reasons.
Also, I think I failed at math.

EDIT 5: Spoilering it because I looked.

Spoiler

I already guessed Dubinsky and decided I'd gotten it wrong, but then I re-realized the stats were explicitly 82-game adjusted, and so now I suspect his 2013-14 season actually applies. So I was wrong about being wrong? Maybe?

The other, I believe, is 2016-17 Alexander Wennberg.

 

[Monk]

just throwing it out there because it was lost in the KJ/werenski/monahan stuff from last night. there's another forward on this roster who is absolutely flying under the radar right now.

i was curious, so i went ahead and pulled some data for a blind comp.

one of these is a current CBJ forward's pace for this season. the other two are standout seasons from two former CBJ forwards.

	Player A	Player B	Player C
Stat line (82-game adjusted)	17-37–54	13-39–52	13-47–60
Removing PP stats	12-31–43	13-39–52	11-35–46
Shooting %	8.5%	7.3%	11.9%
TOI/GP	18:47	18:06	18:23

i adjusted each stat line for 82 games. without looking, can anyone guess which is which?

Is one of them Espen Knutsen? Maybe player C.

I want one of them to be Manny but don't think he ever scored that much.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

EDIT 5: Spoilering it because I looked.

Spoiler

I already guessed Dubinsky and decided I'd gotten it wrong, but then I re-realized the stats were explicitly 82-game adjusted, and so now I suspect his 2013-14 season actually applies. So I was wrong about being wrong? Maybe?

The other, I believe, is 2016-17 Alexander Wennberg.

DING DING DING!

imo the best season of both those guys' careers. both guys got huge contracts after those seasons, too.

cole sillinger is on pace to have a better season than those two seasons while being younger than both (5+ years younger than Player A was), while playing matchup minutes, having less scoring support, and being on a cheap multi-year contract already.

cannot stress how impressive that is – one could argue that he is already a borderline 2C based on production and context. the eye test doesn't necessarily back that up, but we need to reboot the "cole sillinger is a future 2C" narrative.

 

[Viqsi]

DING DING DING!

imo the best season of both those guys' careers. both guys got huge contracts after those seasons, too.

cole sillinger is on pace to have a better season than those two seasons while being younger than both (5+ years younger than Player A was), while playing matchup minutes, having less scoring support, and being on a cheap multi-year contract already.

cannot stress how impressive that is – one could argue that he is already a borderline 2C based on production and context. the eye test doesn't necessarily back that up, but we need to reboot the "cole sillinger is a future 2C" narrative.

In reply I offer the following spoilered comments since they're too hinty:

Sillinger doesn't

Spoiler

annoy Certain People We Hate

the same way A did, though, so I don't think he's got any chance at being nearly as beloved. Probably not as hated as C, tho, since

Spoiler

he actually shoots the puck

. I wouldn't even have minded bringing C back even tho

Spoiler

we're still paying him

.

 

[Cowumbus]

just throwing it out there because it was lost in the KJ/werenski/monahan stuff from last night. there's another forward on this roster who is absolutely flying under the radar right now.

i was curious, so i went ahead and pulled some data for a blind comp.

one of these is a current CBJ forward's pace for this season. the other two are standout seasons from two former CBJ forwards.

	Player A	Player B	Player C
Stat line (82-game adjusted)	17-37–54	13-39–52	13-47–60
Removing PP stats	12-31–43	13-39–52	11-35–46
Shooting %	8.5%	7.3%	11.9%
TOI/GP	18:47	18:06	18:23

i adjusted each stat line for 82 games. without looking, can anyone guess which is which?

What are their 5v5 stats?

 

[spintheblackcircle]

I may have missed if anything has been said, but has there been a time-line on Gudbranson's return?

 

[Xoggz22]

I may have missed if anything has been said, but has there been a time-line on Gudbranson's return?

I have not heard anything beyond "long term". I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't season ending or at the best case, a return in March

 

[MoeBartoli]

This morning I went back for a look at the summer moves Waddell made soon upon his arrival. He moved on from many guys who’d not locked down spots or been in and out of the line-up. The list included Bean, Boqvist, Texier, Nylander, Meyer and Blankenburg among others.

I had questions about a couple of these moves. However, looking at how the season has gone for each player conforms to me Waddell knew what he was doing. Everyone mentioned has been either in and out of their team’s line-up or buried in the AHL. Maybe with a couple of these guys we lost some depth that could have aided Cleveland, but no one who would change this team’s trajectory. What it did was trim the glut in some positions. So hats off to Waddell on his early work.

 

[koteka]

i adjusted each stat line for 82 games. without looking, can anyone guess which is which?

This board needs more posts like this. Thank you.

Another point in his favor, Sillinger actually stays healthy, which is an oddity on the Jackets. He played 79 games as a rookie, 75 games between Columbus and the Monsters in 22-23, and 77 games last year.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

What are their 5v5 stats?

possession-wise? caveating that those are team/deployment dependent, but:

5v5 stats	CF%	xGF%	GF/60	GA/60	P/60	Most common linemates
13-14 Dubinsky	52.19%	53.34%	2.62	1.95	1.95	Atkinson Calvert
16-17 Wennberg	51.58%	51.13%	2.33	2.19	1.57	Foligno Saad
24-25 Sillinger	45.49%	41.08%	2.43	4.13	1.70	Pyyhtia Fantilli

some added context:

• dubinsky and wennberg both had prime bobrovsky in net, while sillinger has elvis/tarasov this year – absolutely massive impact on the GA numbers
• the 13-14 and 16-17 teams were way better than this one

the underlying possession numbers show that the sillinger line isn't consistently winning its minutes, which… shouldn't exactly come as a surprise given that he's being deployed against other teams' top lines (kucherov the other night, for example) and is still super young.

and again, I'm comparing sillinger's age-21 season to dubinsky's age-27 season.

the main takeaway here is that for all the bellyaching on this board about sillinger the last two-plus years, he's on pace for a 50+ point season at 21 while playing matchup minutes. that's firmly "borderline 2C right now" territory with plenty of runway to improve from there.

 

[VT]

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[NotCommitted]

This morning I went back for a look at the summer moves Waddell made soon upon his arrival. He moved on from many guys who’d not locked down spots or been in and out of the line-up. The list included Bean, Boqvist, Texier, Nylander, Meyer and Blankenburg among others.

I had questions about a couple of these moves. However, looking at how the season has gone for each player conforms to me Waddell knew what he was doing. Everyone mentioned has been either in and out of their team’s line-up or buried in the AHL. Maybe with a couple of these guys we lost some depth that could have aided Cleveland, but no one who would change this team’s trajectory. What it did was trim the glut in some positions. So hats off to Waddell on his early work.

Nylander I would've liked to see given a chance, he did well last year, is a former high pick and has had struggles with injuries in the past - so why not? Ofc losing JG was unforseen, but having a couple forward injuries not so much and having him in the lineup could've been a help in absence of KJ/Jenner/Voronkov. I don't feel strongly about this at all, it's just guy gets a chance and does great with it... sure, maybe a flash in the pan or whatever but in those situations I'd always like to believe they can keep it up until proven otherwise - I just wouldn't hand out a lot of money for that belief I'm actually surprised he didn't get an NHL spot anywhere, could've been cheap depth with some upside.

Blankenburg I always liked and he seemed like an NHL player when he was healthy and able but he was rarely that so... Rest are meh to me, Texier I was initially high on but he he's never really been as good as I think he could be, for whatever reason. Could be I just overrated him and saw more than is there, or he's struggling with being in NA / far away from home or whatever, who knows.

 

[thebus88]

This Sillinger stuff is ridiculous. He’s been the worst player on his line the entire year and arguably held back whatever line he’s been on, no matter who he’s played with.

The comparison to prime Dubinsky is too far. He’s not playing “matchup minutes” any more than essentially any other player, he’s simply being used in a role at center, where he shouldn’t be playing, higher in the lineup that he should be, but, is getting the BENEFIT from playing with good players.

They start all different lines during different games for all different types of reasons. Olivier and Chinakhov have been 2 of our most impactful/best players all year. That’s who was ACTUALLY “matching up against” Kucherov, not Sillinger.

ZAR would be a better option and better for the team centering these lines that Sillinger has been higher in the lineup.

imo

 

[Viqsi]

This Sillinger stuff is ridiculous. He’s been the worst player on his line the entire year and arguably held back whatever line he’s been on, no matter who he’s played with.

The comparison to prime Dubinsky is too far. He’s not playing “matchup minutes” any more than essentially any other player, he’s simply being used in a role at center, where he shouldn’t be playing, higher in the lineup that he should be, but, is getting the BENEFIT from playing with good players.

Are you seriously saying that someone like Mikael Pyyhtia is better than the likes of Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad, and/or Matt Calvert? Because that is the direct, inescapable conclusion of your attempt at trotting out the already-preemptively-refuted "playing with good players" argument. We all have our moments, for sure, but come on - nobody's that crazy.

He's putting up the same points production as prime Dubinsky. That's inescapable and indisputable. He's obviously not the same style or quality of player. Nobody's claiming that. Nobody's even come close to claiming that - just that he's getting overlooked and deserves a reevaluation. Coming back with "worst player on his line the entire year and holds back everyone everywhere", backed with arguments that have already been refuted... that's absurd hyperbolic bullshit and you G-d damn well know it.

If you're going to give an evaluation or refutation, at least have the decency to give us an honest one.

 

[Cowumbus]

The thing with Sillinger is he doesn’t score. I believe he has 3 goals, one of them an ENG. On pace for 13 which is far too low for second line guy IMO.

 

[AnonCommentary]

Will David Jiricek stay in #CBJ ? The talented defenseman is back in the AHL as trade talks heat up with teams like @EdmontonOilers and @PredsNHL circling according to a well-placed source! via @JimBiringer

No idea how valid that source is to be fair. However, Porty did say on his podcast that some calls are going out on Jiricek. He hasn’t requested a trade but maybe a trade resolution could be in the works. Elliotte Friedman also said on a OilersNow appearance that Oilers had eyes on him. Maybe they’re just using that and trying to stir up clicks but …. Find it a little bit interesting.

Edit to this: I was told by an oilers fan that other teams were mentioned in the pursuit for Jiricek by EF. Nashville being one of them as well. He also apparently said that Jiricek just wants to play no matter what.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Will David Jiricek stay in #CBJ ? The talented defenseman is back in the AHL as trade talks heat up with teams like @EdmontonOilers and @PredsNHL circling according to a well-placed source! via @JimBiringer

No idea how valid that source is to be fair. However, Porty did say on his podcast that some calls are going out on Jiricek. He hasn’t requested a trade but maybe a trade resolution could be in the works. Elliotte Friedman also said on a OilersNow appearance that Oilers had eyes on him. Maybe they’re just using that and trying to stir up clicks but …. Find it a little bit interesting.

Even if they were going to trade Jiricek, I don't see what the Oilers have that would even be remotely interesting to the Blue Jackets.

 

[thebus88]

Are you seriously saying that someone like Mikael Pyyhtia is better than the likes of Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad, and/or Matt Calvert? Because that is the direct, inescapable conclusion of your attempt at trotting out the already-preemptively-refuted "playing with good players" argument. We all have our moments, for sure, but come on - nobody's that crazy.

What are you talking about!?! I’m talking about Sillinger. And him in relation to Dubinsky, and yes, Pyyhtia, who YES, I think is a better player right now than Sillinger. He’s playing with arguably our 2 most impactful wingers of the entire season, along with having plenty of good linemates throughout the year.

He's putting up the same points production as prime Dubinsky. That's inescapable and indisputable. He's obviously not the same style or quality of player. Nobody's claiming that. Nobody's even come close to claiming that - just that he's getting overlooked and deserves a reevaluation.

The “point production” isn’t the same, as current goal scoring and league wide NHL players point production isn’t the same as it was back then. So yeah, a little to dispute.

Not only will I dispute the role that Dubinsky played in relation to what Sillinger is said to be playing now, while also making it known just how SUCCESSFUL Dubinsky and the team were while he was filling said role, while the complete opposite can be said for Sillinger. THAT is inescapable and indisputable.

Not only that, I’m pretty sure, while it may be limited in numbers, that there ARE some people trying some sort of claims. He’s young, everyone gets that, he’s also not being “overlooked” by anyone, and certainly doesn’t deserve any type of “reevaluation”. IMO

Coming back with "worst player on his line the entire year and holds back everyone everywhere", backed with arguments that have already been refuted... that's absurd hyperbolic bullshit and you G-d damn well know it.

What the hell has been “refuted”, miss fact checker?? Pyyhtia > Sillinger

If you're going to give an evaluation or refutation, at least have the decency to give us an honest one.

Ditto x 1000

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

Regarding the subject of Columbus looking for a top 6 forward, I have suspected for a while now that they are going to go after Marner next off-season, assuming he doesn't re-sign in Toronto. I used to be against it but now I have become significantly more open to it. He (or Rantanen, but I think he'll stay in Colorado) I think is just what the doctor ordered for them, skilled two-way forwards with significant playmaking and offensive capabilities. Of course, Marner's playoffs performances has turned many a poster on here sour on him, but that's a matter of roster construction, I think. Perhaps they can use some of the picks earned at the deadline to get his rights before he hits UFA.

However it goes, I am very much looking forward to this coming off-season. Until then, I'll enjoy watching Evason put his mark on the team and players like Kent Johnson show glimpses of a brighter future.