In the span of a week, the Jackets went from having no forward depth to an abundance.
They made two trades, got Nick Foligno back from injured reserve and recalled Sonny Milano from the AHL. With all these forwards, John Tortorella has some decisions to make. Josh Anderson’s injury opens a spot up but even then, someone who's been seeing regular minutes is going to have to sit.
In Thursday's game, we saw Lukas Sedlak sit out and it was the right decision. Sedlak hasn’t been anywhere near the same player he was last season, and with the acquisition of Mark Letestu he was pushed out of his fourth-line center role. It’s disappointing for Sedlak, but he’s taken a step back. The numbers speak for themselves:
Visual by CJ Turtoro
Last season, Sedlak was a solid possession-driving player with a 52.45% Corsi at 5-on-5. When he was on the ice, the Jackets had 53.62% of the high-danger scoring chances and scored 56.10% of the goals. This year, that’s down to 45.86% and 45.16% respectively. His Corsi is also down to a break-even 50%. Last year, Sedlak had a couple really good wingers on his line in Scott Hartnell and Sam Gagner, who were a big help in creating those offensive chances.
Sedlak played 279:28 with Hartnell and Gagner and they were great together, posting a 53.91% Corsi. They had 57.43% of the high-danger chances and were on the ice for 66.67% of the goals (14 for, seven against). In 78:31 away from those two, Sedlak was an average possession player with a 50.35% Corsi. He didn’t get near the same level of high danger opportunities, though it was still good at 53.66%. The big change was the goals for: Sedlak was on the ice for just two goals for and four against (33.33 GF%).
Sedlak’s on-ice shooting percentage has fallen (8.46% to 6.83%) and his individual shooting percentage is down as well (11.11% to 6.82%), suggesting some bad luck may be a factor. Of these two seasons, I think this past season was the outlier and this season will be more in line with Sedlak’s career. Playing alongside Gagner and Hartnell is going to do wonders for anyone; they can covert on chances you give them and they can set you up. Sedlak is not someone who is going to do that on his own and you can't expect him to drive a line. He needs good wingers to help him, and he hasn’t had that this season.
This season Sedlak hasn’t had consistent wingers as the Jackets have cycled through so many players on the fourth line. His most common line mate has been Matt Calvert, but Sedlak has played at least 40 minutes with eight other players. Of those eight players with the exception being Oliver Bjorkstrand none of them are anywhere near as skilled as Gagner and Hartnell. Much in the same way playing Gagner and Hartnell is going to help anyone, playing with a rotating cast of AHL call-ups is going to hurt anyone.
What Sedlak is now is a really solid depth piece. The Jackets have dealt with their fair share of injuries and should someone else get hurt, they have the forward depth to cover for it. The Jackets have added some good players to the fold and that should prevent the rotating cast of characters we have seen. Should Sedlak find his way back into the lineup, he will have good wingers who can prop him up and get him to playing like he did in 2016-17.
All numbers from Natural Stat Trick
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