Here's more data for you.
Danault and Kaliyev with and without each other this season and the quality of competition.
Seems Danault did just fine without him and Kaliyev needed Danault more than the other way around. It also proves exactly what I was saying where Kaliyev's advanced stats were inflated against the opposition's fourth line.
I went ahead and observed how he fared with every center on the roster.
Kaliyev with/without Kopitar
Kaliyev with/without Dubois
Kaliyev with/without Lizotte
Most of the data shows that he's performing his best against grinders, not so well against elite talent.
His skating being a hindrance cannot be overlooked, and is probably a considerable reason why he can't be counted on to play a pivotal role. His zone starts weigh heavily towards the offensive zone, and his skating metrics that were measured are
below league average.
Either way you cut it, this is a player who has issues if he can't get his shot off.