When the Ottawa Senators traded for San Jose Sharks winger Fabian Zetterlund last Friday, the player had every reason to be excited. Like Dylan Cozens, who was acquired on the same day, Zetterlund was moving from a struggling team to one in the middle of a playoff chase.
While Sens head coach Travis Green quickly rolled out the red carpet for Cozens, a player who Zetterlund has outscored the past two seasons, Zetterlund got a mangy dollar store welcome mat. He was immediately assigned to fourth-line duty on Monday against the Detroit Red Wings.
“I liked the way the rest of our lines looked the other night,” head coach Travis Green explained. “I thought we played a strong game defensively and offensively against the Rangers. It just made sense to put Zetterlund there for tonight and get his feet wet a little bit.”
That made sense for a game, but in Philadelphia on Tuesday, the foot-wetting continued, and Zetterlund was right back on the fourth line, finishing the night with 9:55 of ice time.
And on Thursday, against the Boston Bruins, he was again slotted into the bottom trio for the game-day skate.
It’s safe to say that Zetterlund is wondering what's going on, especially when he views the rest of Ottawa's production. Last season in San Jose, he was the Sharks' leading goal scorer with 24, and even on this Ottawa team, he's their third-best marksman now with 17 goals. That’s more than Cozens, Drake Batherson, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig, David Perron, and Mike Amadio.
If Green likes all those players better than Zetterlund, then that’s perfectly fine. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But if that’s the situation, then why did the Sens bother to make this deal?
Green was asked about Zetterlund at Thursday's skate.
"Yeah, I mean he's playing fewer minutes than he's accustomed to. He's also playing a new system. He's a relatively young player in the league, and our team's playing well. So I think it's been good to insert him in, work him in slowly, and watch all his shifts with the coaches.
"And there are definitely things that we're teaching him on the fly. He hasn't had a practice yet. If I assess his game, it's been fine. And knowing that he could move up the lineup at any given moment. But also making sure that we're not force-feeding something that we don't need to yet. But there's a reason we traded for him, and we like him a lot. And I expect his time will come where he gets more ice time at some point."
It sounds like Green is waiting for the Sens' current top nine, as it's structured now, to cool off before he elevates Zetterlund. But if the big-picture vision is to lean on the winger long-term this season to chip in with offence on the higher lines, then there's a risk in making Zetterlund wait and ride the pines at a time when he's desperately trying to fit in athletically and socially with a new group. That doesn't seem ideal for the kid's confidence.
This seems like a situation that can be viewed through two lenses. One is marked "Don't mess with a win streak," which Green seems to be looking through. The other is marked "Always ice your best lineup."
It will be interesting to see how Zetterlund responds to it all.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa
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