After serving a three-game suspension for a high hit on Patrick Maroon, Jared Boll is eligible to return to Columbus' lineup tonight.
Despite winning 10 of 11 - including all three games without Boll - he will retake his spot on the 4th line.
The problem? He's doing that at the expense of a much, much better player.
Rookie Marko Dano, who has posted nine points in his last 10 games, will be sitting in the press box while Boll, who has seven points in his last 99 games, will dress.
Dano has arguably been the biggest bright spot on the team this season, so him sitting for a guy who has six goals over the last four seasons hardly makes sense.
For comparison purposes, I tabled points, even-strength shot attempt for percentage, and even-strength goals for percentage to look at the impact both players make while on the ice.
Note: numbers since Feb. 17 courtesy of War-On-Ice. Dano played 22 games in that span while Boll dressed in 19.
As you can see, Dano has made a very positive impact on the Blue Jackets whereas Boll, well, hasn't.
Dano has not only been producing points, but his underlying numbers suggest he's routinely outplaying the opposition.
Columbus finally had a healthy forward core that rivalled those of elite NHL teams - their bottom two lines featured Scott Hartnell, Alex Wennberg, Matt Calvert and Dano, among others - and they messed it up the first chance they had.
The Jackets can't make the playoffs, and one player won't sink the team, but the coaching staff is choosing size and physicality over speed and skill, and that's just not right.
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