Alexander Wennberg's pass-first tendency may be holding him back. Nonetheless, the Swedish forward has made plenty of headlines for his play.
Needing a breakout campaign after two solid seasons, Wennberg had the first line center role staring him down. By the end of the season, he had the role locked up and went into this offseason looking for a contract that puts him on that level.
What did we expect?
After his first two seasons, you would expect him to continue his ascent as a player.
After putting up 20 points in his rookie season and 40 points in his sophomore campaign, his progression has been encouraging. The problem was always going to be the role given to him and how it was going to mesh with his development.
Wennberg was expected to make the next step. His play was going to be vital if the Columbus Blue Jackets were to succeed, and with most expectations for the club at an all-time low, many would've been fine with a modest increase on the year.
What did we get?
One of the better seasons from a Blue Jackets center, ever.
He had the second-most assists in a season for a Blue Jackets center and fourth-most assists for any Blue Jackets forward in team history.
Not to mention in the context of the league, he was in the top 10 for assists. Adding in total points, he is just outside the top 20 centers overall -- sandwiched between players like Sean Monahan and Evgeni Kuznetsov. That's stellar company to be in.
Describing Wennberg's play, you could comfortably say it was the tale of two halves.
He played 80 games on the year and in his first 40 games, he had 35 points which included 27 assists. In his last 40 games, he only had 24 points which included 19 assists.
Those two stretches also coincided with the power play losing its luster. In those first 40 games, when the power play was at near-historic levels, he had 15 power play assists. In the last 40 games, he only had 6 power play assists.
Wennberg's collective PDO (combination of shooting percentage and on-ice save percentage) normalized during the back half of that stretch, and with it, normalized a lot of his play. It shouldn't take away what he is able to do as a player, though; his breakout campaign showed that he can be a power play weapon and a difference-maker at even strength.
His playoffs weren't great, as he registered only one assist. When trying to label him as a first line center, that output is a real problem; the series against the Pittsburgh Penguins highlighted the need for him to shoot at a similar rate to his peers.
At even strength this year, Wennberg put up his best shot differential numbers. His 5-on-5 Corsi and Fenwick numbers were both above 51%. Both numbers were positive relative to his teammates.
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PPG | PPP | SHG | SHP | GWG | OTG | S | S% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REGULAR SEASON | 80 | 13 | 46 | 59 | 9 | 21 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 109 | 11.9 |
| PLAYOFFS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
Memorable Moment
A lot of Wennberg's memorable moments were assists and putting the team in the right spot when they needed him most. He had about a dozen of those assists, but he did have a goal that cemented the Blue Jackets as contenders against one of the league's best.
Up to this point, the Blue Jackets hadn't faced their Metropolitan Division rivals very often. The Capitals were the class of the division, even early on in the year.
Wennberg scored the winning goal with less than a minute left in the game and it couldn't have been any more sublime. Everything about it looked easy.
The play was a microcosm of Wennberg's season: effortless and impressive.
Contract Status
According to CapFriendly.com, Wennberg will be a restricted free agent on July 1. He will be looking to come to terms with the Blue Jackets on a long-term contract this upcoming summer, having just signed with a new agent.
| GRADE | B+ |
