“Nick needs to play a big block of games and when he gets called up, I don't want to see him ever again in Utica.”
That’s what Ryan Johnson, recently appointed General Manager of the Utica Comets, had to say about Nikolay Goldobin starting the season on a tear in the AHL, scoring 5 goals and 12 points in his first 10 games. Three weeks later, when Brandon Sutter went down with an injury that turned out to be much longer term than expected, Goldobin got the call up to the Canucks.
Unfortunately, Johnson’s wish to never see him again in Utica didn’t come true.
Brandon Sutter is expected to return to the Canucks lineup on Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, which brought the team one player over the 23-man roster limit. A player needed to be sent down and the writing was on the wall for Goldobin after he played just 6:32 in their win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Some might wonder why a defensive centre like Michael Chaput or Nic Dowd didn’t get sent down instead of an offensive winger like Goldobin. With the way Travis Green has deployed his forwards, it’s likely that Dowd will stay in the lineup as the fourth-line centre, while Sutter pushes Markus Granlund and Brendan Gaunce to the wing.
More importantly, this will give Goldobin a chance to go down to the AHL and play top-line minutes — put up some points, get his confidence up — during the Canucks' bye week. Instead of sitting around, he'll play four to five games with Utica.
"Goldy, first and foremost, is a young player learning the game still," said Travis Green in an interview with Sportsnet 650's Brendan Batchelor. "We don’t, as an organization, want young players sitting around not playing."
"Over the break, it’s going give Goldy a chance to play more hockey and play a lot more minutes and play some situations that he hasn’t necessarily played up here," Green continued. "There’s some parts of Goldy’s game that I really like. Offensively, when he gets the puck in the offensive zone, he’s capable of making plays that you don’t always see a lot of players make."
That raises the question: Will Goldobin return to the lineup with Sutter returning or will Dowd and Chaput stay on the Canucks roster?
For some, this turns into an ideological difference: skill vs grind, offensive upside vs offensive blackhole, excitement vs boredom.
The problem is that Goldobin is not the best hill to die on for that argument. Goldobin has been given opportunity, particularly lately, and hasn’t done enough to justify keeping him in the lineup. While he’s had many games where he played around 10 minutes, in recent games he was up over 16 and 17 minutes, while playing on a line with the Sedins.
With favourable matchups and offensive zone deployment, Goldobin has shown flashes of offensive skill, but little consistency. What’s worse, his possession numbers are ugly: the Canucks have been badly out-attempted, out-shot, and out-scored with Goldobin on the ice.
Here’s a sample of Goldobin’s statistics this season, with his rank among the 16 Canucks forwards who have played at least 100 minutes.
The one argument in his favour is that he did produce goals and points at a decent rate in his limited minutes, but his lacklustre point totals — 4 points in 14 games — are not particularly compelling. And the biggest obstacle to getting more minutes is his struggles in puck possession. It’s hard to argue that he should play more when he’s been so badly out-shot and out-scored.
There’s still hope for Goldobin. His offensive skill is still readily apparent and he’s made a concerted effort to play a more well-rounded game. When he got minutes with Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser when he was first called up, the trio out-possessed, out-shot, and out-scored their opposition, so you could argue that with the right linemates, he can be a top-six forward.
At 22, there’s still a little room for growth from Goldobin. This stint in the AHL may be just what he needs.
