The Chicago Blackhawks lost their final game before the Olympic break last week, getting shut out 4-0 by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Before the game, though, they made the choice to scratch young forward Ryan Greene, which was a questionable decision at best.Â
Greene, in the last couple of games, hasn’t been lighting the world on fire; however, it’s a stretch to bench him. The Blackhawks didn’t play any better without him in the lineup; in fact, it looked like the team took the night off and just wanted to get into the break.Â
Greene’s Breakout SeasonÂ
Greene was called up to the Blackhawks in early October due to injuries suffered by Landon Slaggert and Joey Anderson. Greene, who was only meant to be in Chicago for a couple of games at most, took the opportunity of being up in the NHL and ran with it. He impressed enough people to earn himself a permanent spot in the Windy City and jumped through the hoops of what we thought his development would look like after his three years at Boston University.Â
Related: Blackhawks Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Olympic Break Edition
Not only did Greene find himself up with the big club, he briskly moved his way up the chain, and before he was scratched, was a solid top-six forward. Greene isn’t afraid to turn up the jets or go and battle for a loose puck down in the corners. He’s speedy, gritty, and has no fear of anything, which matches what the Blackhawks want in the future when they’re competing again. He can score all of the scrappy goals when needed, too. The 22-year-old currently has seven goals and 13 assists, tallying up to 20 points in 56 games. While that’s not a lot of points, he’s been a much more valuable piece than that point total to the team.Â
Greene, like most of the younger players, has found himself in a slump. The whole team has been in a skid, as they’ve dropped all the way down from a wild card spot to 27th in the league. However, 21 games in 40 days is a lot for the young guns, and there’s been a lot of hockey played over the past year, with the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Olympics included. After struggling the last few games, Greene was shown the press box.Â
Blackhawks Sending Wrong MessageÂ
Benching Greene is sending the wrong message to the team. Looking at the possible team’s point of view, it’s understandable, but not acceptable. This was the final game before the three-week break, and the Blackhawks most likely wanted to showcase their deadline pieces to the scouts. Defenseman Connor Murphy and forward Ilya Mikheyev are going to be hot commodities heading into the trade deadline for their recent play so far at both 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill.Â
There’s a bigger issue here, though. Andre Burakovsky, 31 years old, one of the veterans on this team, has been struggling ever since he came back from his concussion. Burakovsky was traded to the Blackhawks in a salary cap dump from the Seattle Kraken. At the beginning of the season, he had chemistry with Connor Bedard, with most of his 31 points coming from that line when he was on it.Â
Burakovsky, despite the red-hot start, in the last seven games, has gone pointless. Even with his pointless streak, he remained in the top six the entire time leading up to the Olympic break. Meanwhile, Nick Lardis, who played his heart out every night, got sent down when Connor Bedard came back from his shoulder injury due to a surplus of forwards.
In the last couple of seasons, with former head coach Anders Sorensen and now current coach Jeff Blashill, veterans have failed to be punished. It’s hard to punish a veteran player because of the respect that they’ve earned, but the tide is turning within the organization. The youth need to start being valued and prioritized more. If a vet is struggling and a young gun is on the rise, demote the veteran or take him out of the lineup and move up the kid. There’s certainly no issue in moving the kids up and down as they please; some of that attitude is going to have to be shifted to the veterans.
