St. Louis Blues: Stick With Dmitrij Jaskin for Game 6

In a somewhat stunning turn of events, Dmitrij Jaskin has gone from an afterthought to an important piece for the St. Louis Blues postseason run. Just as surprisingly, in one game, he has made the case that the Blues should not remove him from the lineup.

Right off the bat, I’ll admit to being wrong about including Dmitrij Jaskin in the St. Louis Blues lineup for Game 5. It wasn’t anything against Jaskin, but more how he has meshed with the fourth line in the past and also feeling guys like Ryan Reaves or Steve Ott fit better.

Jaskin is a good player with a lot of potential still in front of him. In a rare moment of being up front about his feelings, Ken Hitchcock may have actually built up expectations on Jaskin too highly with his high praise when he first came into the NHL.

His career since then has been a bit underwhelming, but nothing to say he can’t develop into a very good NHL player. The player who once scored 99 points in his lone season with the Moncton Wildcats hasn’t gotten more than in the teens in the NHL and 29 was his highest in the AHL.

To only look at the cold, hard numbers is a tiny but unfair in that he’s bounced around from the AHL to NHL almost every year since becoming a pro. He’s still becoming accustomed to the style of play in the NHL.

He played in the Czech Republic until he was 19 and then only spend one year in Canada playing in the Quebec junior league. He’s also been going back and forth with lines.

His best season in the NHL was 2014-15 when he had 13 goals. He also spent much of his time as a second liner with some time on the third line. Outside of that he played on the fourth line and sputtered.

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That was the thinking behind any disappointment at his inclusion in the 2016 playoffs. It’s not that he isn’t talented, but he isn’t a fourth line player.

Jaskin has energy, size and can be physical when called upon, but he doesn’t fit on a prototypical fourth line. He isn’t a grinder, he isn’t known for his defensive skill yet and he isn’t going to find much offensive help there.

The conventional thinking tells us Reaves or Ott should be in that slot. Their number one goal is to get under people’s skin, hit people, forecheck and play defense. Jaskin proved that wrong in Game 5.

Having not played in a month, he stepped right into a role that is normally uncomfortable and flourished. Not only did he score a goal, which proved to be a game winner, he fit in well and actually seemed to re-elevate the play of Scottie Upshall and Kyle Brodziak.

The three man crew proved to provide some much needed energy, which all fourth lines try to provide, with the added threat of a scoring punch. That’s why Jaskin needs to stay in the lineup for Game 6 in St. Louis.

If he can continue to provide even the potential of scoring on the fourth line, then he becomes invaluable.

The Blues, the media and even many of us fans have been going on and on about how the Blues can roll out four lines and how that can wear down teams. That’s all well and good, but teams can overcome physicality. They can’t overcome being outscored.

Changes can be made for whichever team the Blues could face in the Western Conference Finals, should the Blues reach that round. They can return to Ott if they need a feisty presence or Reaves if they need a punisher.

To beat Dallas though, the Blues have to have scoring or at least the threat of it. The more energy Dallas spends trying to defend, the less they have to use on their own offense. Jaskin makes them spend energy doing just that.

He is a big body. He’s only listed at 6’2 and 217, but he plays bigger than that. He’s tough to get off the puck when he gets moving and strong on the puck.

Hitchcock was noncommittal about Jaskin’s return for a second consecutive game.

Hitch was asked if he liked Jaskin enough to stick with him in G6: "Yep. He was good. We'll see...see what he brings. But I liked the line."
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) May 8, 2016

Hopefully, that’s just coach speak though. He continued to say Jaskin’s physicality on the puck leads to more zone time for the fourth line and more momentum, so I’m willing to believe he’ll be in the lineup.

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The Blues need to end this series in six games. They need to end it at home. While they’ve played well on the road, you don’t want the series to come down to that.

If Jaskin can provide some extra offense, it makes it that much more likely to end the series at home. As great as Ott and Reaves have been, they don’t provide that extra element. Jaskin does and needs to stay in the team for at least Game 6.

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