The Blue Jackets played Friday at home, and after the game they made what looked like a very curious roster decision, sending down Sonny Milano, Gabriel Carlsson and Joonas Korpisalo to their AHL affiliate in Cleveland.
This was a unique situation where the Blue Jackets had the weekend off and the Monsters did not. Cleveland played on Saturday, so this was chance to get the Blue Jackets young players who have been in and out of the line-up a chance to play big minutes in a real game.
All three players started the game in Cleveland. Korpisalo played very well stopping 32 of 33 shots. This was a penalty filled game but the Monsters PK was excellent going 6-for-6. Neither Milano nor Carlsson got a point or a shot, but they were both on the ice for a 5 on 5 goal for and most importantly got some significant playing time for the first time in a while.
Unfortunately the AHL does not have time on ice on their website so we don’t know exactly what each player played, but we do have a decent estimate.
Prospect-Stats estimates a player’s 5 on 5 ice time, they had Milano and Carlsson each playing close to 11 minutes at 5 on 5. There was a lot of special teams time in this game with six penalty kills and seven power plays, assuming each player played a large portion on special teams you’re probably looking at around 15-16 minutes for Milano and 20-21 minutes for Carlsson. The exact numbers don’t really matter; it was a significant upgrade on the 9:51, and 11:08 they have been averaging in the NHL, respectively.
On Sunday the Jackets recalled the trio.
Carlsson wasn’t up for long, sent right back down a few hours later. It’s everyone’s best interest that he stays down there for now. Markus Nutivaara is playing very well, and there is no reason to take him out of the line-up. Carlsson might be ready for the NHL, but it does him no good sitting in the press box or playing as the seventh defencemen. He needs playing time and the AHL is best place for him to get it. He gives the Jackets serious defensive depth and should an injury happen, he's the first player coming up to step in.
As for Milano and Korpisalo they are up and will be dressed for tonight’s game against the Sabres. This has been one of the rare times we have seen the Jackets take advantage of having their AHL affiliate so close by. We have seen teams like Toronto and Winnipeg do this for years, they send players up and down all the time since their AHL affiliate is in the same city as the NHL team. The Jackets can’t quite do what those teams do since Cleveland is a couple hours from Columbus, but they can do things like we just saw. If the NHL club is off send a few players down to the AHL get them some much needed ice time and bring them back up. This is a luxury the Jackets have and they should be taking advantage of it.
Looking ahead at both teams schedules, the Jackets have the opportunity to do this again next weekend. The Jackets play at home this Friday, and once again have the weekend off. The Monsters play this Saturday at home against Texas. Depending on how the three games go this week for Columbus, don’t be surprised to see Korpisalo and Milano sent down to Cleveland this weekend.
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