Seth Jones is one of the hottest defensemen in the entire National Hockey League right now. He picked up an assist in the third period to give him ten points in his last seven games. Since the debacle against the Calgary Flames, he has seemingly flipped a switch and has been playing some of the best hockey we’ve seen from him since joining the Blackhawks.
At the end of last season, I think a lot of people (at least those who paid attention to the quality of play and not the easy narratives) were encouraged by how Jones’ 2023-24 season progressed. He spent most of the year with a young defenseman, Alex Vlasic, and they appeared to be suited incredibly well to be a top tandem for some time.
Then the Blackhawks went out and added veteran depth this summer so they wouldn’t be forced to spend more than 400 minutes with a pair like Kevin Korchinski and Jaycob Megna together on NHL ice. Enter Alec Martinez and TJ Brodie. Now, there would be some legit battles for roster spots and ice time.
To their credit, the group of defensemen slightly older than Korchinski made it clear they wanted to be in the NHL and had the ability to be impactful there. But it wasn’t the presumed Wyatt Kaiser and maybe Ethan Del Mastro who stepped to the forefront in training camp (though Kaiser missed most of the preseason because of a health issue).
Nolan Allan and Louis Crevier played well enough to force their way onto the NHL roster. Crevier has stayed in the NHL the entire season; Connor Murphy missing an extended period of time leaving the Blackhawks with only Jones and Crevier as right-handed shooting defensemen certainly has contributed to that. But Allan has been very good, physical and smart with the puck most of the time as well.
Kaiser has been up and down from Rockford and is still developing. Korchinski has been back for a couple weeks. Del Mastro is now in the NHL and has played well when given the opportunity. Allan has been in and out of the lineup — as have Del Mastro and Kaiser along the way — to the great dismay of fans who just want to see the kids play at this point.
Murphy leaving the lineup because of injury unfortunately has forced some shuffling on the back end. He was playing really well when he got hurt and was stabilizing the back end with young partners this season. Thankfully, it sounds like he might return soon; he’s still on IR but is considered more day-to-day at this point and has been skating with the team.
Blackhawks blue line check-up
Last night during the third period of the Blackhawks’ loss in Carolina, I noticed Jones and Vlasic skating together during the third period as Chicago tried to put together a comeback.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Vlasic spent 12:54 on the ice with Crevier at 5-on-5 during which the Blackhawks were out-shot 9-2. He spent 5:34 with Jones at 5-on-5, during which the Blackhawks out-shot the Canes 4-1.
That’s been the trend this season for the Blackhawks. Even though they were so good together last year, the Blackhawks — now on their second head coach during the season — have seemingly moved away from their most effective defensive pair from last season.
With Murphy appearing to be close to returning and the young defensemen getting more comfortable together, it’s worth taking stock of the blue line at this point in the season.
And it’s past time to put Jones and Vlasic back together for more significant ice time moving forward.
Here’s how Jones and Vlasic have performed with their most frequent partner on the blue line his year — Martinez with Jones and Crevier with Vlasic — and with each other (stats at 5-on-5 per Natural Stat Trick).
Seth Jones
TOI | SOG For | SOG Against | Scoring Chances For | Scoring Chances Against | Goals For | Goals Against | |
Martinez | 173:32 | 68 | 112 | 67 | 103 | 10 | 7 |
Vlasic | 151:53 | 71 | 73 | 60 | 71 | 9 | 6 |
Alex Vlasic
TOI | SOG For | SOG Against | Scoring Chances For | Scoring Chances Against | Goals For | Goals Against | |
Jones | 151:53 | 71 | 73 | 60 | 71 | 9 | 6 |
Crevier | 247:18 | 74 | 113 | 67 | 101 | 6 | 9 |
Consider the percentages:
- Shots For Percentage
Jones-Martinez: 37.78
Vlasic-Crevier: 39.57
- Scoring Chances For Percentage
Jones-Martinez: 39.41
Vlasic-Crevier: 39.88
Those are… not good. Meanwhile, last year we saw Vlasic’s game take huge strides forward — and him earn a nice contract extension — playing incredibly well with Jones. And, when together this season, they’ve been much better than the alternatives.
Blackhawks blue line fixes
So what do we do about the rest of the blue line — especially when Murphy returns and we have a natural catalyst to shake up the defensive pairs?
There is only one defensive pair that’s skated together for any significant amount of time this season that is better than 50 percent in both Corsi For percentage and Scoring Chances For percentage: Murphy and Allan. They’re skated 165:28 together at 5-on-5 and been quite effective (only three goals against in those 165+ minutes together).
Keep in mind that Allan’s seven assist still ranks second among all rookie defensemen in the NHL this season. His 41 blocked shots rank fourth and his 59 hits leads all rookie defensemen as well. He’s shown to be a pretty good, physical, poised young defenseman and should stick in the lineup. Having a steady veteran with him would only help.
So what do we do with the third pair? We’ve still got Martinez and Brodie — the two veteran additions from the summer — as well as Crevier and Del Mastro, who are more likely to be part of the future here than either of their experienced teammates.
Crevier ranks second among all rookie defensemen with 47 hits (behind only Allan). His 33 blocked shots rank fifth and he’s scored three goals, which is tied for the rookie lead among defensemen (with Lane Hutson and Seamus Casey). Having three right-handed defensemen on the right side of the blue line is obviously a more ideal situation, and he’s earned his ice time.
I would love to see Del Mastro and Crevier spend some time together at the NHL level. Considering their size (Del Mastro is 6-4, 210 and Crevier is 6-8, 228) and both being pretty good puck movers who also feel free to hit someone, that could be a solid third pair to give some runway before the end of the regular season to evaluate for beyond this year.
But that would require putting two veterans in the press box every night. And we all know that isn’t likely to happen.
The long term plan has to remain the focus of every move from this point forward.
A trade of Martinez was likely always in the cards at some point before the deadline, even if he says he wants to hang around and help the team improve. He signed a one-year deal and has championship experience. Rentals like Martinez usually have an expiration date, and his is probably March 7. But, until then, the problem is playing him so his trade value is still there while still finding ice time for the youngsters.
The Blackhawks planned to healthy scratch Brodie before Jones was too sick to play on the Friday night that turned into a circus with the Taylor Hall trade. They haven’t revisited that move since.
A buyout of Brodie this coming summer is an increasingly likely scenario because of all the reasons we’re talking about here. He hasn’t been good — not necessarily a shock if you watched him in Toronto last year — and the organizational depth makes him expendable (checks notes) three months ago.
As we watch teams put veterans like Brandon Saad thru waivers in recent days, that has to be considered. While the organization can much more easily justify sending one of the young defensemen back to Rockford to get more ice time (as they have with Kaiser), remaining on plan is more significant than the ease of the decision making process.
Martinez splitting ice time on the third pair with Del Mastro and/or Crevier until the deadline is a better outcome.
(I will note here in full transparency while seemingly dumping on Brodie that the Del Mastro-Brodie pair has been shockingly good this season. The Blackhawks have a 17-7 Scoring Chances For advantage in only 23:37 together.)
So what would I ultimately like to see on the Blackhawks’ blue line once Murphy returns?
Alex Vlasic — Seth Jones
Nolan Allan — Connor Murphy
Alec Martinez/Ethan Del Mastro — Louis Crevier/Martinez