It is hard to believe that this is even a phrase worth uttering, but it is time for Darryl Sutter to jettison Robyn Regehr from the top pairing. Maybe even from the lineup.
It can be hard to not seem like you have it in for a player, or that you are picking on one certain guy. But the play of Regehr, aside from a very good stretch in late January, has been downright awful. It has been fairly obvious, and the twitterverse has certainly been alive in voicing their opinions.
Despite the poor form, Sutter has made it clear that he feels Regehr brings something to the table. He has regularly played him at 20-plus minutes a night since February 7th. Granted, some of his minutes have been due to the absence of Alec Martinez, which occurred on February 7th. Be that as it may, Sutter has Brayden McNabb, Andrej Sekera, Matt Greene, and even Jamie McBain at his disposal. The solution however, has been to jettison Jake Muzzin from the top pairing and insert Robyn Regehr alongside Drew Doughty.
As expected, the results have been bad. Be advised, there will be graphs, and they will be ugly.
Here is what has happened to Doughty's on-ice corsi differential over the course of the season. Note that the first time we saw the pair together was
March 1st against the Winnipeg Jets.
Ouch.
And just for posterity, here are Regehr AND Doughty's numbers together.
So the pairing isn't even benefitting Robyn Regehr at even strength. In fact, Regehr has been sub-50 percent corsi each night since being paired with Doughty. Doughty has been sub-50 percent corsi six of the last seven games.
But alright, let's be logical. Maybe this move was to help out Matt Greene who is now paired with Jake Muzzin.
Oi vey.
While McNabb and Sekera have really hit it off and been the Kings best pairing since March 1st, the rest of the group has suffered at the expense of the swapping.
If everyone is suffering a downturn in play (Although Greene and Muzzin have been passable), then what was the point? Also, you are essentially tying a boat anchor to your best defenseman in Drew Doughty. The pairing of Muzzin and Doughty has worked during about 75-80 percent of the season, so why break it up now? Although finding a good partnership for Sekera was important, it has come at the cost of some unsavory play from the other two defensive pairings. It has also thrust Robyn Regehr into a role that he should have no business playing, and that is a top-pairing defenseman. Simply put, it has damaged two pairings at the price of one, including your best defenseman.
There seems to be a reprieve in the future, as Alec Martinez has begun skating with the team in full practice again. Question is, who does Sutter remove from the lineup? I think it should be pretty clear who comes and who goes in. That being said it may be a case of Sutter relying on trusted veteran players over the young and somewhat inexperienced players. You'd have to hope that isn't a case in this important stretch of games. Seniority should play at certain times of the year, but this isn't one of them. Quality should take precedence.
At minimum, Sutter should reset the pairings to allow the Doughty-Muzzin partnership to come back into play. That was a comfortable and familiar pairing for both, and the numbers were equally as impressive. Regehr and Doughty, likewise with Greene and Muzzin, look uncomfortable at best. At worst they have looked downright awful. Maybe allow McBain a few odd games before inserting Martinez full time.
Short and simple, the Doughty Regehr thing has to end now. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Doughty-Muzzin was not broken. On the plus side the Kings discovered a great duo in this experiment with McNabb and Sekera. Now they need to get their top defenseman back with his top partner.
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