Jenner again logging big minutes for Blue Jackets
Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen began the season with the goal of reducing his dependency on captain Boone Jenner to log high minutes, but that plan's being put on hold regularly by Larsen's desire to stay competitive.
It was the same situation last season, when Jenner's bid to set career-high numbers was cut short by a back injury. He missed the final 23 games of the season and his usage became a storyline coming into this year's training camp.
Sunday's overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings game was the 13th time Jenner has logged 20-plus minutes, and he's averaging 20:19 per game — a shade under the 20:28 he averaged in 59 games last season. Jenner's shifts are almost identical to last year, averaging 24.1 this season and 24.8 in 2021-22.
Against the Kings, two days after logging a season-high 24:27 in a 3-1 win over Calgary, Jenner played 20:47 and finished with one goal and a –3 plus/minus rating. He also won 66% of the 29 faceoffs he took, which shows how much Larsen leans on his captain for key draws. It's a situation Larsen still hopes to remedy by finding more opportunities to rest Jenner, but the injury-riddled Blue Jackets need to lean on him as one of the league's most inexperienced teams.
“When I was able to manage his minutes, it was giving (those minutes) to other guys, but then faceoffs come into it if (Sean Kuraly) has just had a shift and I
need a faceoff guy and then he gets stuck out there,” Larsen said. “There's all these moments that happen that I go, ‘I gotta use him … I gotta use him, I gotta use him,' and you're trying to win a hockey game.”
Jack Roslovic's improved play could help ease the burden.
“The plan is to dial it back,” Larsen said. “I thought we were doing a decent job early. If Jack plays like he did (the past two games) it helps you. Boone played a lot of minutes (against Calgary), but just, again, it was circumstance, how it worked out.”