Two-time 18-goal scorer has played two-dozen outings without lighting a lamp and 20 outings without netting a point
The numbers don’t lie; Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube has been nowhere near the player expected.
Amidst his struggles, he is due to be a healthy scratch when the Flames play host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
“He hasn’t been the Dillon Dube that we know he’s capable of being,” coach Ryan Huska said. “A lot of that falls on me and the amount of ice time he’s had over the last little while, but this just gives him a chance to kinda re-set himself and come back better than ever.”
Walker Duehr is to be inserted into the line-up alongside Adam Ruzicka and A.J. Greer.
Dube, coming off consecutive 18-goal seasons, appeared poised to elevate his game, but has managed only three goals and seven points in 39 games.
The slumps are jaw-dropping: 24 games without a goal, 20 games without a point.
Analytically, Dube’s season has been below par but does not point to it being an unmitigated disaster, but the 25-year-old forward has not shown the spark needed to increase his impact.
What remains to be seen is how long before Dube returns to the lineup and how he responds from a “re-set”
“A lot of it is on the player,” Huska said. “We can have our conversations with them but it’s how they approach it, a lot of times.”
Dube’s struggles are part of the team’s situation with its fourth line. At times, the trio of skaters has had a big impact, but as a whole it’s been a struggling getting momentum generated.
“They’re guys we feel should be playing in the offensive zone using their size to their advantage, in Dillon’s situation, his speed,” Huska said. “At the end of the night, you want that line to be a line hard to play against and one that doesn’t step on the ice and give up chances against or goals against.”