Nutivaara eager for top-pairing time
MONTREAL — Ordinarily, this might be a good time for the Blue Jackets to reunite Zach Werenski and Seth Jones as their top defensive pairing.
Ryan Murray is out because of an upper-body injury and could be out “a little while,” according to coach John Tortorella, so there’s a vacancy next to Jones — a role that Werenski handled almost exclusively the past two seasons.
This time, however, Tortorella is looking to achieve two things should he keep Werenski with David Savard on Friday at the Ottawa Senators.
“With Murr being out, I think we need to try to get Nuti going, playing at a different level,” he said of
Markus Nutivaara, who got the first crack at playing with Jones on Tuesday in a 3-2 loss at the Montreal Canadiens. “We tried him there the other night.
“Didn’t mind it, quite honestly. I’m not sure what we go with (Friday) night, but … I also have to worry, with Murr being out, (about) balancing our (defense pairs) too. We’ll make those calls as we go from game to game.”
Nutivaara, playing his third season with the Blue Jackets, is an interesting case study.
After earning a fouryear contract extension last season, with seven goals and 23 points in 61 games, he has bounced between the second and third pairings — including stints at both points. His primary numbers have also dipped despite playing about a minute more per game.
Nutivaara has four goals and 15 points in 58 games, just three fewer games than he logged last season, and his rating is minus3, well below his plus-13 last season. More importantly, Tortorella isn’t seeing the same sure-handed decisiveness with the puck on Nutivaara’s stick, especially in the defensive zone.
“Nuti’s a really good player,” Tortorella said. “I think he’s lacked a little confidence. When I look at him, when his legs aren’t moving and he’s not trying to make a play, flipping the puck, you know that he’s not right — because his game is getting us out of the end zone. And you can tell when he’s just not feeling it, that it’s a lot of flipping the puck and his legs are stationary.”
Getting the opportunity to play top-pairing minutes, not to mention skating with an all-star such as Jones, might be what Nutivaara needs. It’s something he doesn’t take lightly.
“It’s so much more fun,” said Nutivaara, who first received top-pairing minutes for a short stretch last season. “The game feels easier when you go on the ice all the time — the reads you make, it’s a little easier. You get more chances to go up the ice and shoot the puck or have the puck, so I love it. I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts.”
That’s the best approach to take, from his perspective.
Murray’s absence doesn’t have a timeline yet, other than Tortorella saying he’d be out “a little while here” during his weekly appearance Wednesday on WBNS-FM, so it’s probably best to keep a short-term focus.
“Last year, I was still figuring out everything,” Nutivaara said. “Now, I think I know a lot more things, so I’m expecting more from (myself), from what I did last year to this year. It’s going slowly up, but I think I’m working up there.”