There has been an abundance of young players on the Columbus Blue Jackets roster so far. We’ve seen Pierre-Luc Dubois get his first NHL goal, Sonny Milano already leading the team with four goals, and of course everyone is still excited about Zach Werenski. But lost in the excitement of Dubois and the new arrival of Artemi Panarin, Gabriel Carlsson has quietly been making a place for himself on the 3rd pairing.

The Emergence of Gabriel Carlsson

The Columbus Blue Jackets drafted Gabriel Carlsson in 2015 draft at 29th overall. At the time of his draft, he had just finished playing for Linköping, and it’s farm teams, in the Swedish Hockey League. Carlsson played for Linköping’s under-18 team before being brought to their under-20 team for 39 games. At the end of the 2014-15 season, Carlsson played for the main Linköping team for seven games. During those seven games, he recorded two assists.

When Columbus drafted him they knew that he was not going to be an offensive juggernaut; throughout 92 games in the SHL, Carlsson had three goals and twelve assists. One scouting report from thedraftanalyst said, “His dedication to defending his position is part of his upbringing within the Swedish system, but mostly due to fellow blueliners who were specifically tasked to push forward, leaving Carlsson as one of the reliables staying behind,” and “at worst, Carlsson is a rock-solid positional defender who can be counted on to stand up and makes plays at his own blue line.”

LWOS’ own Ben Kerr said, “The best part of Gabriel Carlsson’s game, is his play in his own end of the rink. He has excellent positioning, and his hockey IQ is very high. He anticpates plays well, cutting down passing lanes with a long stick, and creating transitions with a good first pass. Carlsson’s big body is an asset as he is willing to play a physical game, throwing hits, fighting for loose pucks, and clearing the front of the net. He battles hard every shift and is willing to do whatever it takes to win games.”

Last Year

During the end of last season, Carlsson played in two regular season games and all five playoff games. He played more than 17 minutes during those two regular season games and had a positive shot differential as well. During the playoffs, he played more minutes than Kyle Quincey, Scott Harrington, and Markus Nutivaara.

Fitting in on the 3rd Pairing

Towards the end of last season, the third pairing became a game of musical chairs. Murray played on the 3rd pairing constantly, but he sometimes played with Nutivaara, Harrington, and Quincey. The best partner he had was Nutivaara, but even then his numbers are not show-stopping. His CF% relative was a -2.8, meaning the team produced more shots with Nutivaara, not on the ice. Nutivaara’s CF% was 48.4%. Harrington and Quincey’s were even worse.

Last year Murray’s CF% relative was -6.9 and his CF% was 45.7%, it’s not surprising that Murray’s numbers are this bad when his defensive partners aren’t doing much better themselves, and were a revolving door. His numbers the year before, when he played with Seth Jones for the back half of the season, are much better and the season before that are even higher. What Murray was missing was a decent defensive partner.

Looking Ahead

Carlsson is the stay-at-home defenseman to Murray’s more offensive defenseman. Murray has always been more likely to look for a goal or try to get a pass to someone who could score a goal. In 2015-16 he put four goals and 21 assists the very next year he only put up 2 goals and 9 assists.

Carlsson has only played in five regular season games, so his sample size is small, but hopefully, his numbers will continue to get better.

In his two regular season games last year he had a CF% of 54.1% and a CF% relative of 11.7. These numbers are slightly impressive because during the games Carlsson played in Columbus was struggling. During those two games, he was averaging 17 minutes of ice time. He was on the ice for four goals against.

So far, Carlsson has a CF% of 50% and a CF% relative of -1.7, so the team is generating more shots without him on the ice, but he’s not an offensive-defenseman in the first place. Murray has a CF% of 50.5% and a CF% relative of -1.0. The pair has only been on the ice for two goals against, both of which came in the game against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 7th.

The two could create a solid 3rd pairing that has decent offensive potential, on Murray’s part, that lots of teams desire.

There is also the added bonus of both players being young, Carlsson’s 20 and Murray 24, so the two can continue to get better together.

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