Defense earning Duclair more chances at playing time

When asked about the status of forward Anthony Duclair, who had been a healthy scratch in six of eight games, Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella didn't mince words in mid-December.
"He has to build up a bank account," Tortorella said. "He has zero balance in the bank account as far as me trusting him and how he plays the game. I just say that honestly. It's not being negative - that's what he is to me right now. That's what I know of him right now. I'm just not sure - he's going to have to build that up as he gets in."
Lest it sound like Tortorella was burying the skilled forward, who had suffered a couple of defensive lapses late in a 3-2 loss Dec. 11 vs. Vancouver, the head coach kept going.
"And he will," Tortorella said. "He'll get another opportunity to play because, as I said, he's worth it. There's a lot there."

Duclair has showed that in flashes throughout his career and this season, his first with the Blue Jackets. The 23-year-old from Quebec had 20 goals and 44 points as a 20-year-old three seasons ago with Arizona, but from there he bounced around, leaving the Coyotes in a trade last year with Chicago. After 23 injury-plagued games with the Blackhawks, he was a free agent, signing a $650,000 deal with the Blue Jackets.
Why was the forward available for the league minimum? The point production had tracked downward, with Duclair totaling 16 goals and 38 points over the past two seasons. But it was still a worthy flyer for the Jackets to take on, and Duclair proved it when he had eight goals and four assists in the first 19 games of the season including a highlight reel tally vs. Philadelphia at Nationwide Arena.

Even before his breakaway goal to open the scoring in Saturday's win at Florida, Duclair has continued to earn more responsibility from the coaching staff. He has spent time recently with the team's No. 1 power-play unit and was on a line with Artemi Panarin for large parts of the team's last two games, including a chance to be on the ice late as the Blue Jackets pushed for the tying goal against Carolina.
Saturday's game vs. Florida was Duclair's ninth straight in the lineup, and for that the forward credits the strides made in his defensive game.

"I've just focused on my defensive game first, and I think once you do that offense comes after," Duclair said. "For myself, most of the game when you don't have the puck, I want to make sure my positioning is right and make sure I'm tracking hard, reloading at all times, and that's when you gain trust from the coaching staff."
That hasn't gone unnoticed by Tortorella, who was asked last week about Duclair's play.
"I think you guys should have been talking about him not just in what you see as far as speed and offense, but just his concentration as far as backchecking," Tortorella said. "He almost knocked (Zach Werenski) out (in a collision vs. Ottawa) because he was reloading so hard there. But he's going to be looking at some clips with Brad Larsen (Saturday) just showing him some of the good things he's done. We showed him so many of the things that we want him to do that he hasn't been doing, when he started doing it, you have to show him that too.
"He has really concentrated as far as moving his legs and getting back."
In the last nine games, Duclair's possession metrics are all above 50 percent, which is good news when combined with his offensive skills.
Duclair boasts plenty of speed to his game and strong offensive instincts, one reason he's found himself in a position with a number of scoring chances in the past handful of games. According to Natural Stat Trick, he's tied for the team lead at 5-on-5 in high danger chances over the last nine games with 11 such tries.
The next step? Saturday's goal was nice, and the goal will be to keep putting the puck in the net like he was in his first 20 games as a Blue Jacket.
"Looking back at the beginning of the season, scoring was easier than I thought," he said. "It happens to a lot of guys, and for myself, it's about not getting frustrated. I just keep doing the things I'm doing and eventually it's going to go in. I'm not too worried about that."