Screen Shots: Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs
Adam Proteau discusses the Columbus Blue Jackets losing captain Boone Jenner to injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins sinking in the standings and the Toronto Maple Leafs' Martin Jones.
This is Screen Shots, a regular THN.com feature in which we tackle a few different hockey topics and discuss them in shorter bursts. On to it we go:
The Columbus Blue Jackets are dealing with another injury – this time, to captain Boone Jenner, who suffered a broken jaw in Friday’s game against St. Louis. The Jackets are expected to be without Jenner’s services for six weeks, a massive blow that could be one of the final nails in the coffin of the team’s season.
When it rains, it pours for the black-and-Blue Jackets, who are also currently without forwards Jack Roslovic and Cole Sillinger, as well as defensemen Damon Severson and Adam Boqvist. They’re the worst team in the Metropolitan Division, and this latest injury news makes them feel more and more like a doomed team. Something's got to give, whether it’s in management, with a trade or two, or both.
Some might say you don’t make trades from a place of weakness, but let’s be real: the reason you need to make trades is because you’re not able to reach a place of strength. Columbus has had more than its share of bad luck, but sometimes, bad luck is not a root cause, but rather, a symptom of an organization that’s simply not strong enough to rise above it.
Speaking of bad Metro teams, we saw another flat effort from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night as they lost 3-1 to the Florida Panthers. The Penguins are now closer to last-place Columbus than they are to the fourth-place Carolina Hurricanes in the Metro.
The Pens are getting next to no secondary scoring from this team. Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust have combined for 45 goals and 98 points. After that, only winger Reilly Smith (14 points) is in double-digits in points up front in Pittsburgh’s 26 games this season.
The Penguins also have some injuries to deal with. Still, when veteran Jeff Carter is a non-factor, when first-year Penguin Lars Eller has just three goals and eight points, and when their lack of depth at the lower end of the roster is readily apparent, it shouldn’t be a surprise the Pens are where they are.
It might not happen right away, but it still feels like Penguins coach Mike Sullivan's job could be in jeopardy. GM Kyle Dubas has no organic connection to Sullivan, and after nine years on the job in Pittsburgh – a lifetime, given how fast the coaching carousel now spins – it may be time for Sullivan to leave. With capable replacements, such as Gerard Gallant and Jay Woodcraft, on the coaching market, Dubas may choose to go in a new direction and put the onus for the team’s underachieving ways on the Pens players themselves.
The injury to Toronto Maple Leafs starting goalie Joseph Woll Thursday night in Ottawa was devastating for the young man, but it also showed why Leafs GM Brad Treliving was wise to sign veteran netminder Martin Jones to a cost-effective $875,000 contract this year.
With veteran Ilya Samsonov so shaky in 10 appearances this season, Toronto needed someone capable of taking on a considerable workload and providing decent results, the way Jones did last season in Seattle when he posted a 2.99 goals-against average in 48 appearances for the Kraken. The 33-year-old Jones is not going to be a Vezina Trophy candidate, but the Leafs don’t need him to steal games; they just need him to keep them in games and let their high-octane offense take over.
If Jones gives the Buds a save percentage of better than .900, they’ll be content with that while hoping Woll comes back sooner than later to reclaim his starter’s job. It’s absolutely true that you can't ever have enough goaltending depth, but Toronto has more than most, and it will be tested now.
