When the Chicago Blackhawks signed Matt Grzelcyk to a PTO in the preseason, it was a questionable decision as there are so many young defensemen already on the team. But then he was signed and has taken up a spot on the roster and in the lineup the entire season so far.
The kind of surge we have seen from the Blackhawks this season wasn't anticipated just yet, but they are in a playoff spot, led by many of the younger players, but not Grzelcyk. Yes, having the 31-year-old on the team adds another veteran to the back-end, but he isn't contributing anywhere close to what he had with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he has the opportunity to have a larger role this season without Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang stealing the offensive production.
But Grzelcyk has just four assists in 27 games after putting up 40 points for the Penguins last season. He is now paired with the only other veteran on the defense, Connor Murphy, so it is further proving that the young defensemen don't need the veterans to settle them down and play beside.
Grzelcyk is averaging 15:39 of ice time per game, but having him in the mix has significantly dropped the rest of the group overall. Only Alex Vlasic is averaging over 20 minutes per game of ice time. The Blackhawks are dressing seven d-men as well, so if they were going to go this route to not sit a young players, Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, and Kevin Korchinski are all playing in the AHL and could be in a role playing 15 minutes per game.
Grzelcyk is the smallest defenseman on the team and is also hardly touching the ice on special teams. He isn't a bad defenseman all of a sudden, but he did have a career season and isn't the right fit for the Blackhawks. It was a mistake from the start and Chicago is going to have to deal with it this season.
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