The Blue Jackets have activated Gabriel Carlsson off of the injured reserve. To make room for Carlsson on the roster Cam Atkinson has been placed on the IR, retroactive to October 28th.
#CBJ make another roster move today:https://t.co/euM6mYamzD
— ColumbusBlueJackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 5, 2017
Carlsson returning puts a bit of a wrinkle into the defence group. The Jackets now have eight defencemen on the roster. The top six has been playing very well, there isn’t an obvious player who should come out of the line-up.
I understand the old adage that players shouldn’t lose their job because of an injury, but in this situation Markus Nutivaara has played far too well for Carlsson to jump right back into that spot. Nutivaara has five points in nine games, and a strong 51.01% Corsi at 5 on 5.
Nutivaara, paired with Ryan Murray, has found his offensive game. He’s never going to be mistaken for Seth Jones or Zach Werenski, but Nutivaara passes the puck well and isn’t shy about joining the rush and jumping into the play. Nutivaara’s style works well with the defensive minded Murray and together they have formed one of the better depth pairs in the league.
According to Corsica when Nutivaara and Murray have been on the ice together they have a 51.14% Corsi. There are 31 defensive pairs that have played over 100 minutes together and have at least a 50% Corsi, the Jackets have three of them. This pair has been on the ice for five goals for and four against, giving them a very good 55.56% goals for percentage. In fact they have actually been snake bitten a little bit as their expected goals for is 7.06 and expected against is 4.73. Corsica’s model suggests they should have a goals for percentage of 59.88%, which would be the fourth highest xGF% in the league.
What makes this pair so effective is that when they have the puck in the offensive zone they are getting into the scoring chance areas. Nutivaara and Murray have been on the ice for 32 high danger chances for versus just 21 against. We have seen both defencemen at points this season take the puck deep and set up good opportunities.
Murray with Carlsson just doesn’t have that same offensive flair. They are both defensive oriented players. The Jackets more than any other team are embracing offensive defencemen and letting them be rovers. That is not Carlsson’s game.
The best course of action for the Jackets would be in tonight’s game against the Rangers they go with 11 forwards and seven defencemen. They are already down a forward with Matt Calvert returning to Columbus after getting banged up on Saturday. This would give them a chance to take a look at all seven defencemen and could evaluate Carlsson vs. Nutivaara. After that they should send Carlsson down to the AHL. He doesn’t need waivers, whereas Nutivaara does, and it gives Carlsson an opportunity to play 25 minutes a night and develop. If another injury occurs you have Carlsson ready to bring up and fill in.
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