Tortorella: Duclair must check

By statistical measures, Anthony Duclair’s first season with the Blue Jackets has been a success. Signed as an unrestricted free agent during the offseason, the 23-yearold winger sits tied for the team lead in goals with seven as the season nears the quarter pole and he’s shown the athleticism and skill that can make him a dangerous offensive weapon.

But there’s still more coach John Tortorella is looking for from Duclair. And as the coach keeps searching for it, Duclair’s minutes in key situations are dropping. With the score tied 4-4 with the visiting New York Rangers on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena, Duclair was on the ice for a total of 40 seconds through the third period and overtime.

The reasoning was laid out by Tortorella before the game began.

“He still has to learn how to play away from the puck, still has to learn how to check,” he said. “Do I want to turn him into a checker? No, but he has to understand there’s some responsibility there. I’m sure that has hurt him with some other teams early in his career.”

Now in his fifth NHL season, Duclair is skating for his fourth team and third in two years. His skill has never really been in question dating to a breakout 2015-16 season with Arizona where he had 20 goals and 24 assists for 44 points, marking career-best totals in each category.

Part of the issue, Tortorella said, is that he’s still learning about Duclair. That feeling-out process between player and coach is one captain Nick Foligno said all the Jackets experienced upon Tortorella’s arrival.

“It was just how you’re playing and the little things you did in order to gain his trust to put you out there in those important situations,” he said. “He knows he’s a good player for us and an important player for us so I think it’s just a matter of this game and how Torts felt. I think it makes you better as a player. It obviously sucks at the time, but he knows he’s an important part of this.”

Friday night at Washington, Duclair added a team-best fourth power-play goal in a win but only played 9:30. During his shift that included the goal, Duclair said something “popped” in his shoulder, but he returned to the game and Tortorella said Saturday that Duclair was fine.

That was his second-lightest game of the year, but he was on the ice for a seasonlow 5:40 against the Rangers the following night. He did not register a shot and was minus-3 for the game, although he was called upon to participate in the shootout. Duclair was not present while the locker room was open after the game

“He’s been really good in our power play,” Tortorella said before the game. “He’s competitive when he has the puck. He’s got to be more competitive when he doesn’t have the puck. We’re still assessing and trying to be fair to him, trying to put him in situations.”

Then, after the game, Tortorella reemphasized, “He’s got to check. He’s got to learn to check.”