Blake Comeau has had a solid season for the Pittsburgh Penguins especially considering his 700k price tag. He has been able to fill in on the second line right wing position and provide some secondary scoring with Evgeni Malkin.
His 16 goals this year equals his goal total from the past three seasons combined (2011-14).
However, in the month of March his production has fallen off.
Comeau currently leads the Penguins in PDO with 1030 so perhaps this drop shouldn't come as a huge surprise.
In the 16 games in March Comeau only has two goals and one assist. Not very good production considering the minutes he receives.
Evgeni Malkin did miss seven games in the month of March so obviously that will have an impact, but Comeau isn't producing with Malkin in the lineup lately either.
In the eight games played with Malkin in March Comeau had one goal and one assist. In the eight games without Malkin he had one goal.
*I have included the Boston game where Malkin was hurt his first shift as a game that Comeau played without him*
Comeau will need to bump up his offensive production because without it he is on the ice for quite a number of shot attempts against.
*Data is only from Pittsburgh sample size*
He has the highest Fenwick Against per 60 minutes on the team.
It might also come as a surprise that Craig Adams is superior to Max Lapierre.
On the opposite end of the spectrum you'll see that the "overmatched" Beau Bennett actually leads all Penguins forwards in shot suppression even with his unfavorable usage all while maintaining a similar FF/60 as Comeau.
Speaking of Beau we are not going to see anything close to his potential ceiling this year. Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
had the following passage in her article on March 24th.
Bennett estimates he is down about 8 pounds and that he will work to put on weight this summer and play somewhere between 195 and 200 pounds next year.
“I’m playing at the same weight I’ve played at for the last couple years, but, when you have knee injuries, you lose all that you worked out for in the summer. Then, I had another one, and lost that even more, so it’s kind of a snowball effect,” Bennett said.
“It’s tough especially with how good everyone is in the NHL, trying to play catch-up. Especially the type of skater I am. I’m an average skater. If I lose a step, that’s not good. I would love to play between 195 and 200. Right now, learning how to play with both my braces on is a chore in and of itself. It’s a learning experience.”
I was unaware the Bennett has been playing with two braces. Playing with one knee brace is a real inconvenience. I had the unfortunate experience of doing it in college. The day I took that thing off was a great day. Playing with two knee braces at the NHL level doesn't seem ideal in the least bit.
I maintain that the concept of usage and results is no more evident than with Blake Comeau and Beau Bennett. This is something that is imperative to keep in mind when negotiating contracts for both players this summer.
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