Is Pierre-Édouard Bellemare losing out on his position in the lineup?
Nine days have passed since the veteran was activated off of IR— three weeks overdue his projected 4-6 week recovery from a broken leg sustained in mid December— yet he still hasn’t returned to game action.
Now, Bellemare’s set to be sidelined for the fourth time since being cleared, concluding an optional morning skate with the healthy scratches today.
Expectations weren’t high for the 38-year-old. Signed as a free agent over the offseason, Kraken general manager Ron Francis brought Bellemare in as “a hard-working, defensive-minded forward” boasting much-needed “faceoff” skill and “valuable veteran experience.” Unofficially, he was intended to fulfill the fourth line’s need of a centerman should prospect Shane Wright fail to make the roster out of training camp.
Bellemare scored two points in the 13-straight games he played to kick off the season before a minor ailment suffered in early November interrupted his streak. Having lost Jaden Schwartz and André Burakovsky early December, once Bellemare was healthy, a thinned forward group forced him back into the lineup. But several times prior he’d been sat by the coaching staff seemingly out of a mere preference for other skill sets.
Since returning from the All-Star break, the fourth line has been made out of some combination of Tomas Tatar, Tye Kartye, Kailer Yamamoto, Brandon Tanev, and Burakovsky.
There are grounds to criticize the use of Yamamoto at center, whose offensive tools struggle under the weight of two-way responsibility, as well as the unproductive use of Tatar and Burakovsky, needing larger minutes to contribute to the collective effort in the way their respective games allow. But arguably all of these combinations have been of greater use to the Kraken than any including Bellemare. Of all forwards and defenseman on the roster with over 100 minutes logged, the Kraken’s ability to control shot quality suffers the most with Bellemare on the ice (40.7% xGF%).
Of course, the Kraken are in the best shape they’ve been all season, with head coach Dave Hakstol calling his roster the healthiest since “the week before training camp.” Bellemare’s disappearance could be the inevitable consequence of a logjam up front, collateral damage— somebody has to sit.
In the midst of a tight wild card race it’s logical that the coaching staff put their best foot forward night in and night out with every game a must-win, and it speaks volumes that an ‘ideal’ lineup with this collection of forwards doesn’t include Bellemare. The Kraken would rather push a winger into a centerman role than have their intended 4C take it.
Bellemare is a good piece to have on standby should an already injury-heavy season (123 man games lost) worsen in the coming weeks. But it looks like his importance to the roster may be dwindling.
Notes
- Philipp Grubauer appears the likely starter versus the Vancouver Canucks, set to oppose Thatcher Demko in the crease.
- Kailer Yamamoto also skated with the helthy scratched this morning. Expect Tye Kartye in the linup tonight.
- Tonight is the final game the Kraken play against the Canucks this season. A win would give them their first-ever season series win over Vancouver.
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