Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill had an interesting answer to a question about Ryan Greene‘s long-term roster fit after practice on Wednesday. The question came off the assumption that Greene has been viewed as Jason Dickinson’s most likely successor as the Blackhawks’ shut-down center.
“We’ve drafted a lot of centers, to be honest with you, which is a good thing,” Blashill said. “Mooresy [Oliver Moore] is a natural center. Greener’s played center. [Roman] Kantserov’s playing center full-time. [Anton] Frondell’s played a lot of center. You obviously have Frankie [Nazar]. So, some guys are going to play the wing, some guys are going to play center.”
Obviously missing from that list of center options is Connor Bedard, who seems to be locked into the Blackhawks’ top line center spot for the foreseeable future.
Blashill has talked about how much more comfortable and effective Moore has been at center vs. on the wing. And I will also note that we’ve previously talked about the fact that Nazar’s play really took off at the World Championship last year when USA Hockey moved him to the wing… which is noteworthy because current Blackhawks assistant coach Mike Vellucci was on that coaching staff.
However, the part of Blashill’s answer that got my attention was the mention of Kantserov playing center in the KHL this season. I shared an interview the 21-year-old gave back in January in which he talked about his production really taking off this season since he moved to the middle; he leads the KHL in goals.
Sacha Boisvert and AJ Spellacy have also spent a good portion of their seasons playing center, but weren’t mentioned by Blashill. Spellacy specifically did a nice job at center for the USA at the World Juniors, and has already signed his entry-level contract. There’s a lot of buzz around Boisvert’s immediate future after he was scratched by Boston University on Wednesday night.
Corinne Votaw-Imagn ImagesEntering Thursday night’s game in Utah, here are the centers who remain on the Blackhawks’ roster with their total number of faceoffs and win percentage thus far this season:
Total FaceoffsFaceoff %Ryan Greene67544.3Frank Nazar61446.1Connor Bedard40645.3Ryan Donato23348.5Oliver Moore20548.3Since Jan. 1, the numbers have shifted a bit. Only three remaining Blackhawks — Greene, Nazar and Moore — have taken at least 100 faceoffs since the start of the calendar year.
Bedard didn’t take many faceoffs in January when he came back from his shoulder injury, but had returned to the dot since the Olympic break. Even though Greene took most of the faceoffs, once the puck was on the ice Bedard was effectively playing center for that line.
Nazar been getting increasingly comfortable in his first full NHL season, and it’s showing at the dot. Since Jan. 1, Nazar has taken 201 faceoffs and won 52.2 percent of them. Nazar’s winning 52.4 of his faceoffs since the Olympic break.
Moore’s injury likely opens the door for Boisvert to potentially get a look at center down the stretch whenever he signs.
These are all questions that won’t be answered overnight. But the lineups we could see with young guys playing down the middle in training camp in September could make for a lot of fun conversation.
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