Columbus Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier has had an interesting start to the 2023-24 season.
Through nine games, the 24-year-old, who played all of last season in Switzerland, has been held completely off the scoresheet (0-0-0) all while averaging a career-high 16:38 TOI. Making matters worse, he's played exclusively alongside Adam Fantilli, who has been excellent, and one of Patrik Laine (before he got hurt), Emil Bemström, and Jack Roslovic. We discussed last week that Fantilli and Texier's size and speed allowed space for players like Bemström and Roslovic to flourish. But almost paradoxically, Texier has been unable to create anything of note for himself.
It's a small sample size, but through nine games, he's been an analytics nightmare, too. Per NaturalStatTrick, Texier has a sub-50% mark in scoring chances percentage, high-danger chances percentage, and a laughably bad on-ice shooting percentage (3.23%) and save percentage (89.19%). Then, there's just the cold hard fact that he's been on the ice for eight opposition goals against and just two for. That 20% is last among forwards on the team.
Through all of this, Texier has managed to avoid being a healthy scratch, even as other promising young players like Kirill Marchenko and Kent Johnson have been held out of the lineup. But the coaching staff put Texier on notice at Wednesday's practice, demoting him to the fourth line alongside Sean Kuraly and Justin Danforth (with Mathieu Olivier also rotating in).
#CBJ forward lines today:
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 1, 2023
Gaudreau-Jenner-Roslovic
Johnson-Fantilli-Bemstrom
Voronkov-Sillinger-Marchenko
Texier-Kuraly-Danforth/Olivier
Looks like we may see Marchenko back in the lineup tomorrow vs. the Bolts
At the risk of sounding contrarian, I haven't hated Texier this season the way many others seem to based on comments (here and otherwise). Sure, I think a demotion is probably warranted, but I think the larger issue has been aligning our expectations with his reality. Texier has never been a prolific scorer, at any level, ever. Why, then, does the coaching staff insist on playing him in a second-line capacity? I think it's because he looks the part of someone who could break out. He skates well, has obvious talent, etc. But the coaching staff has now (correctly, in my opinion) identified that Texier would benefit from playing lower in the lineup with players who play a more structured and simplified game. Texier's best attributes are his forechecking, speed, and tenacity. Playing him with players like Kuraly and Danforth, who play with a similar identity, could and should allow him to flourish.
And if not, it will be Texier's turn to watch from the press box.
