Last year, a few times in the second half of the season, I made a case for Blackhawks center Jason Dickinson to receive consideration for the Selke Trophy. Dickinson actually finished 12th in the final voting, appearing on 18 ballots. For a guy who played a supporting role on an awful, terrible team, that’s pretty decent.
With some of his early performances this season, it’s a good time to put some respect on his name once again. Dickinson is legitimately one of the best defensive centers in the entire NHL. Throughout this season we’re going to point out some specific instances where he played against elite competition and made life hell for his opponent.
- From The Athletic on Nov. 9 (thru 15 regular-season games):
The Blackhawks are tied 5-5 at five-on-five with Dickinson on the ice. Why is that impressive? Because no other forward on the roster can match the difficulty of Dickinson’s usage. Coming off a career-high 22 goals last season, Dickinson has been put into a far more defensive role and has thrived. He has the most defensive zone starts of any regular Blackhawks forward (32) and the fewest offensive zone starts (12). And he’s faced the highest quality of competition among everyday forwards, too. The average offensive rating of the players he’s gone up against this season is 2.89, which puts him in the 93rd percentile leaguewide.

Dickinson vs McDavid
- Oct. 12 at Edmonton — Dickinson spent 4:51 on the ice at 5-on-5 against Connor McDavid. During that time, the Blackhawks out-shot the Oilers 2-1. He also blocked two shots and was credited with one hit and one takeaway. McDavid was minus-one with one assist.
- Jan. 11 vs. Edmonton — Dickinson skated 17:20 total in the game, 16:20 of which came at even strength. He was on the ice for 12:25 of that 5-on-5 ice time directly against McDavid. While Dickinson was on the ice at 5-on-5 against McDavid, the Oilers had a 16-10 Corsi For advantage and 9-5 Shots For advantage. The Blackhawks had a 2-0 Goals For advantage. McDavid was credited with one shot on net, zero points and was minus-two. Dickinson also won 8 of 14 faceoffs, had one assist, two shots on goal and one blocked shot.
Dickinson vs MacKinnon, Rantanen
- Oct. 28 at Colorado — Dickinson spent 7:16 on the ice at 5-on-5 against Nathan MacKinnon. During that time, the Blackhawks out-shot the Avalanche 4-1. Shot attempts were 6-2 in favor of the Blackhawks during that time as well. Dickinson had two assists, three shots on goal and won 10 of 22 faceoffs in Denver. MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen were minus-four in the game.
- Jan. 8 vs. Colorado — Dickinson skated a total of 19:54 in a 3-1 Blackhawks win. Of that, he spent 13:40 directly against MacKinnon and 13:10 directly against Rantanen at 5-on-5 . The Avalanche had a 17-9 Corsi For and 8-1 Shots For advantage while Dickinson was on the ice against MacKinnon and Rantanen. Rantanen came into the game riding a league-high 14-game point streak during which he had 23 points. Neither team scored at 5-on-5, however. MacKinnon and Rantanen combined for zero points and two shots on net (both by MacKinnon).

Dickinson vs. Dallas
- Oct. 26 and Nov. 7 at Dallas — in the first two games against one of the best teams in the Western Conference, both of which were the second half of back-to-backs with the Blackhawks traveling to Dallas the night before the game, Dickinson spent a combined 10:18 against Jason Robertson. During that time, the Blackhawks had a 9-8 shot attempt advantage and the shots were 4-4 at 5-on-5. Robertson was credited with two shots in each contest and had zero points with a minus-one rating over the two games.
- Nov. 27 vs. Dallas — the Stars were without their usual top center, Roope Hintz, so Dickinson’s assignment was Mason Marchment, Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin. That line generated just two shots on goal in roughly nine minutes of 5-on-5 ice time against Dickinson in the game. Dickinson was credited with two hits and two blocked shots in 14:18 in a 6-2 Blackhawks upset win the night before Thanksgiving.
- Dec. 29 vs. Dallas — Dickinson was back against Robertson specifically in this game. At 5-on-5, Dickinson was on the ice for 5:45 against Robertson. During that time, the Blackhawks had a 7-2 Corsi For and 5-1 Shots For advantage. Dickinson put two shots on net, blocked two shots and was credited with three hits in the game.
Dickinson vs. Minnesota
- Nov. 10 vs. Minnesota — Dickinson spent 13:16 on the ice at 5-on-5 against Kirill Kaprizov, who came in with 27 points in 14 games and six points in his previous two games. During Dickinson’s time against Kaprizov at even strength, the Blackhawks out-shot the Wild 6-4 and had a 55.9% share of the expected goals. Dickinson scored the Blackhawks’ only goal in regulation (they won in OT), won 9 of 20 faceoffs, put three shots on net and skated a season-high 19 minutes.
‘‘That’s what we saw most of last year: [his line] doing the job defensively and getting rewarded offensively because they’re usually above the other team in the ‘O’ zone,’’ Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson said after the Nov. 10 game. ‘‘There have always been interchangeable pieces there, but Dickinson is the familiar face that’s always there.’’

Dickinson vs Eastern Conference
- Dec. 2 at Toronto — Dickinson’s line started the game playing primarily against Auston Matthews‘ line, against whom they had success last year. In 3:46 directly against Matthews at 5-on-5, the Blackhawks had a 5-2 Corsi For advantage in the game. In the middle of the game with the Leafs’ line of Robertson-Minten-Lorentz generating a lot of opportunities, Dickinson was moved to that responsibility. In 6:03 against Minten individually at 5-on-5, the Blackhawks had a 5-1 Corsi For advantage. That line had three shot attempts in less than three minutes against the Blackhawks’ line of Donato-Kurashev-Teräväinen. In total, Dickinson was on the ice for 12:16 at 5-on-5 in the game during which the Blackhawks had a 12-5 Corsi For advantage.
- Dec. 4 vs. Boston — Dickinson got the honor of spending most of his night on the ice against David Pastrňák. He was on the ice for 12:48 at 5-on-5 of which he spent 9:04 against Boston’s most lethal offensive player. In that even strength ice time, the Blackhawks held a 7-5 Corsi For advantage, the Shots For were 4 for each team and the Blackhawks out-scored the Bruins 2-1. Dickinson scored a goal and added a team-high two hits and one blocked shot while winning 8 of 17 faceoffs. He was on the ice for 5:20 on the penalty kill; Chicago killed all five Boston power plays.
- Dec. 17 vs. Washington — Alex Ovechkin was out of the Capitals’ lineup, but they came into the game having eight of their previous ten. Dickinson drew the assignment of defending Dylan Strome. He spent 5:07 on the ice against Strome at 5-on-5 during which the Blackhawks had a 5-1 Corsi For and 2-0 Shots For advantage.