Kris Versteeg has been injured in each of the last 4 years he has played. Any limits to his playing time have been because of that, not because he suddenly forgot how to play defense. Furthermore, this concept that Versteeg hasn’t been used as a two-way/defensive player in the last 6 years is utter hogwash. Last healthy season in Florida the most used line combination was Versteeg/Weise/Fleischman. Anyway, anyone familiar with the Panthers that year knows that Goc and Weise were the two lines they used against other teams’ top two lines. So Versteeg was still being used on a two-way line that season.
The last season with the Hawks had Versteeg’s number one utilized line as Versteeg/Richards/Kane. His second most utilized line was Versteeg/Toews/Hossa. That was the Hawks 4th most utilized line and was used almost the same amount of time as the 3rd most utilized line of Smith/Kruger/Nordstrom. So by all means think Q was wasting Toews and Hossa together on an offensive only line for that length of time but you are nuts if you do. Versteeg was playing a two-way role on the Hawks on that line. So he had a two-way role that season, as well.
Now just because a player is being used for offense doesn’t negate their defensive responsibilities. So let’s compare typical defensive situations that forwards need to be responsible for; especially the ones that have given up the most Quality Shots against. First, let’s look at the F3 high in the offensive zone situation. Most coaches want the 3rd forward to be above the puck so if there is a turnover, there are three players capable of handling a 3 forward rush. Q lets the Hawks 3rd forward go “3 forwards low†in certain situations more than most any other coach. He does want you to pick your spots and only do it when you can get away with it. So who abuses that situation? Kane is the obvious choice; Shaw in a number of cases has been caught doing it at the wrong time. You know who in 2014 got caught giving up 3 Quality Shots Against by being too low as F3? Marian frickin’ Hossa. And he did it 4 times if you count the one as F3 when he ran into Toews and took both of them down for a 4o2 Quality Shot the other way. You know who never got caught doing that? Kris Versteeg. Why? Because he is a pretty savvy player that picks his spots on when to cheat.
Then there are the Hawks Dman rotations in the offensive zone. When a forward skates with the puck up into the point area, the Dman will abandon that area on a switch. Once the Hawk forward passes the puck away, he needs to stay there and cover as the Dman until the real Dman can return to that spot. You know who forgets to do that? Kane of course and also Shaw, Saad did that at least once too, if I recall. You know who doesn’t ever forget to cover for the Dman? Versteeg. He is even known to notice when other forwards have blown that assignment and have gone over to cover for them. And he is also the best Hawks forward in actually covering for a Dman if there is indeed a turnover. He can skate backwards and maintain a good gap and not look like a pylon the way so many forwards do when they are caught in that situation. That is because he grew up playing D.
And in a defensive rush the first forward back needs to cover for the center until the center can switch. Some wingers seem to periodically have a brain cramp and forget to check where the center is. Then they just go to their wing spot and abandon their responsibilities. I’m looking at you Patrick Sharp. There are a couple of examples where Hossa is still a zone behind when he realizes that Sharp is brain-farting. The jump out of his skin reaction as he puts it in high gear to cover is pretty funny to see. And Sharp has been known to “let Hossa take it†when the two are somewhat near to each other. You know who takes his F1 responsibilities seriously? Yep, Versteeg.
So, you know another fault of those primarily offensive players? It is when they are in the defensive zone and jump to offense prematurely. I can give you examples of Kane and Sharp doing that and giving up Quality Shots Against as a result. I can give you an example of Shaw thinking the Hawks are going to get a puck and lazy loop off of the F1 spot to the half wall anticipating a pass, only to find the Hawks never had the puck. And then the opponent is now shooting a point blank shot from Shaw’s abandoned position. You know who I don’t have any examples of doing stuff like that? Versteeg. When he cherry picks the Hawks actually have the puck. So there aren’t examples of Quality Shots against when he tries to get behind the opponents defense.
And how about flybys at the net? I can talk about how a player like Shaw didn’t stop in front of his own net and instead skated in a lazy loop behind it, letting the opponent get a primo shot off. Or how Shaw goes and plays puppy dog defense where he “sees puck and chases puck.†Or how Toews is sometimes in a walkabout where he anticipates the puck going to an area that is nowhere near where the puck ends up and is now completely out of the play. I have little “isms†for most of the Hawks players of common mistakes they keep making. What I don’t have is a defensive “ism†for Versteeg. And the memes that are out there about him aren’t real. I don’t have multiple examples of Quality Shots against based on any of those memes.
What I do have is when I am looking at a play, I’m going, “OK, I am expecting a Hawk here, here and here.†And in those situations, I see Versteeg is in one of those spots while other players who are supposed to be known for their defense are not. In fact as forwards go; Versteeg, Kruger and Hossa are the only ones that consistently are where you would expect them to be defensively. As I mentioned Toews freelances more than those guys which is the reason I didn’t include him there too. So the meme where “Versteeg hasn’tbeen a quality defensive player in 6 years†is a bunch of hogwash. He was one just two seasons ago.
