Struggling Dubinsky scratched amid trying season
NEW YORK — By making Brandon Dubinsky a healthy scratch in the middle of a playoff chase and the midst of a season-high eight-game winning streak, one would figure this is another message being sent from a former Rangers coach to his former Rangers center.
John Tortorella, though, maintains he simply is holding his veteran center to the same standard as the rest of his Blue Jackets team.
Dubinsky has gone his past 17 games without a point.
"Brandon Dubinsky is a really good player and you know how I feel about him,” Tortorella said. “He has been given plenty of opportunities to kind of find himself. I thought he really struggled (Monday), and I have other guys champing at the bit to get in here.
"That’s healthy, not treating a player poorly. It’s about the merit of what we need to put on the ice.”
Tortorella benched Dubinsky on Tuesday night as the Blue Jackets visited Madison Square Garden — where Dubinsky came up through the league playing his first six NHL seasons for the Rangers.
This has been a long and strange season so far for Dubinsky, who came in with only five goals and 15 points in 55 games — far below his full-season averages of 14 goals and 41 points.
Dubinsky is the third of a six-year contract that pays the 31-yearold $5.85 million annually.
“It has been a struggle for him,” Tortorella said. “As we talked after the (trade) deadline, Blue Jackets center Lukas Sedlak controls the puck against Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei during the first period.
as a team, here is our depth chart and here is where everyone stands right now. We had a healthy competition as we keep on moving forward here. … I coach him during the game but I’m not having any more
one-on-one meetings, trying to help you. Those days are gone and the team knows that.”
This season, Dubinsky has had his assistant captaincy taken away, then suffered a broken orbital bone during an
on-ice fight.
In January, as Dubinsky was preparing to join the team after missing a month, he abruptly left his teammates before a game in Las Vegas. The team and Dubinsky’s agent described him leaving for medical reasons.
Dubinsky hasn’t spoken much of it since he returned after the All-Star break.
Lukas Sedlak replaced Dubinsky on the fourth line.
Tortorella changed up a number of his lines and flipped defensemen during a come-frombehind 5-4 overtime win Monday at Boston. The Blue Jackets came out Tuesday with those mostly intact, as Nick Foligno centered the top line while defensively, Ryan Murray opened with Zach Werenski. … Defenseman Seth Jones missed his third consecutive game because of an undisclosed upper body injury.