EDMONTON — What if there was a six-foot-three, 212-pound winger out there who could really skate, has a heavy wrist shot, and has shown some ability to trade pucks with an elite centreman?
And what if that player was also scary tough. Mean enough — when he wants to be — that he can keep the flies off of said elite centreman, and do it without having to drop the gloves very often?
If you are the Edmonton Oilers, who have two elite centres but a small and less than physical set of top-six wingers, would you consider making a play for that winger?
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That’s exactly what head coach Dave Tippett is doing, as he tries to resurrect Zack Kassian’s long-lost game.
“We’ve had some good conversations with him the past couple of days — we’ve got to get him ramped up for the stretch drive,” said Tippett of his moribund winger. “We’re trying to work with his game. Trying to get him to that point.”
After signing a four-year deal with an AAV of $3.2 million last season — prior to the descent of the NHL economy, clearly — Kassian has ghosted the 2020-21 season. He has five points in 23 games, and registered a shot on goal in just three of his past 13 outings.
How involved has he been? He has 13 penalty minutes — one fight against Erik Gudbranson in which Kassian broke a bone in his hand, and four minor penalties.
Like it or not, for players like Kassian, penalty minutes are a tell as to how involved they are in a game. He’s a player who ends up answering for hard hits on the forecheck, who finds himself in a scrum because he barged to the net and bumped a goalie.
He’s the kind of player, like Milan Lucic, that opponents would prefer to let lie. So if Kassian has this few PIMs, it is because he’s sleeping too much.
“If you look statistically, it’s not the greatest year that I’m having on the scoreboard. But I feel like I can bring other elements to the game, that I can continue to do if I’m not scoring,” Kassian said this week. “Banging pucks home? That would be nice. But ultimately, if I’m bringing that physical element, playing fast, playing with speed, (being) hard on pucks, that’s an element that can help our team win and ultimately give me success.”
The point is, if he were doing all of those things, he would find the odd goal. At $3.2 million, more is expected than just playing fast.
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In search of tangible results, Tippett has turned his eye on the eternal project that is Kassian, a player that has required serious pushing ever since Buffalo selected him in the first round of the 2009 draft.
We’ve always applauded a man who turned his life around just in time, grabbing what was likely his final chance in the game when then-GM Peter Chiarelli took him out of that early morning car wreck in Montreal and gave him one last opportunity.
Good for Kassian — he’s a father, a good teammate and a person who has kicked those bad habits. Those are the most important things.
However, as long as he’s taking NHL money — and far more than he’s earning at the moment — it is fair to critique the on-ice product. This season, a player who was once an energy-producing power forward for Edmonton has been an abject failure.
Tippett, looking at this project on his fourth line and realizing that he needs some size on left wing nearer the top of his lineup, has recently moved Kassian over to the left side in hopes of rousing some interest from the player.
“The first thing we’ve got to do is find him a few more minutes in the game where he can get involved a little more,” Tippett said. “We want to get him going, get him more involved in the game. Get him a few more minutes here and there.”
“I’ve never played it before,” said the career right-winger. “There are parts of the game where it’s a little different than then right side, but ultimately it’s not a drastic change. It’s not like going from wing to centre, or centre to D. I’m a good enough player. I can adapt … and find a spot on that side if that’s where they want me to play.”
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No one is saying it, but with light wingers inhabiting three of the four spots on the Oilers’ top two lines, they need to beef up with the playoffs on the horizon. Specifically on the left wing, where Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is a fixture, but smaller players like Dominik Kahun and Tyler Ennis have failed to be the answer next to Leon Draisaitl.
So they’ll break Kassian in at left wing in the bottom six. If the trade deadline passes and no help is found, and Kassian starts to become the player that was such a factor in the Oilers’ 2017 playoff run, we’re betting he ends up back in the top six before long.
I know. That’s a lot of ifs when it comes to a player who has been unresponsive for the entire 2020-21 season.
“I think you (media) guys are reading into something that is a lot smaller than you’re making it out to be,” downplayed Kassian. “We’re trying new things, trying to make our team better… I’ll play wherever I’m asked to play — that’s not an issue at all.”
If the definition of a coach’s job is to get the most out of every player, then it’s Tippett’s duty to look down his lineup and identify where untapped potential lies. Anyone who saw Kassian perform on McDavid’s right wing in those 2017 playoffs knows that he has far, far more to give than he’s showing right now.
It’s a project, sure. But hasn’t Kassian always been a project?
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