Blackhawks GM Bowman: No edict to give Nylander high-quality minutes

When Stan Bowman traded Henri Jokiharju for Alex Nylander in July, the Blackhawks' general manager hoped he was acquiring a top-six forward who could play with Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Dylan Strome and/or Alex DeBrincat.

Halfway into this season, the Hawks have certainly given the offensively gifted Nylander every opportunity to succeed in that role.

But success has been fleeting.

Since a solid start (2 goals and 2 assists in the first five games), Nylander has 3 goals and 7 assists in the last 34 contests. And 2 of those tallies came with the Hawks ahead 5-1 in Nashville Nov. 16.

Then there are the mistakes.

A glaring turnover in St. Louis that opened the door to the Blues' 4-3 comeback victory Dec. 14. Another in late November when he and Kirby Dach didn't pick up the Avs' Nathan MacKinnon quickly enough, leading to a MacKinnon goal that made it 3-1.

And there are others that led to counterattacks, or lost 50/50 battles behind an opponents' net that end offensive zone time.

The underlying numbers, according to naturalstattrick.com, aren't great either when you see that during 5-on-5 play opponents are:

• Outshooting the Hawks 277-229 when Nylander's on the ice (Kane, Strome, and Toews are worse).

• Outscoring the Hawks 23-17 (fifth-worst among forwards with at least 200 minutes).

• Outchancing the Hawks 232-202.

And for those who still believe in plus-minus, Nylander's minus-9 rating is tied for the worst on the team.

There are also issues with compete level and on-ice awareness without the puck.

Yet, Nylander stayed on the top line from early November to early December and then - after a brief demotion - started with Kane and Strome in Games 34 to 37. Coach Jeremy Colliton did bench Nylander for more than half of the Hawks' 3-2 shootout win in Columbus on Sunday, and he was scratched for Tuesday night's game in Calgary.

It begs the question: Was there an edict to continue giving Nylander high-quality ice time to justify the trade with Buffalo in the off-season?

"No. There's never been a directive for anybody to keep playing," Bowman said on Dec. 23. "He's treated just like every other player has been treated - this year, last year, every year."

That's certainly debatable, especially during Joel Quenneville's time with the Hawks. Players like Ryan Hartman, Richard Panik, Nick Schmaltz, Teuvo Teravainen and even veterans Patrick Sharp and Antoinne Vermette could end up in Quenneville's doghouse for the simplest of mistakes.

One could argue that was a different era; a championship era in which Quenneville had a deep roster.

Things are clearly different now as the Hawks attempt to build young players' confidence for the future.

Still, doesn't a top-six forward have to produce more than a pair of meaningless goals and 5 assists over a 27-game stretch?

"We're not looking at it the same way you are," Bowman said. "I think maybe that's the problem."

So how were the Hawks looking at it during those 27 games? Bowman's answer is long, but worth seeing in nearly its entirety.

"The whole thing with Alex that we've been trying to get him to do is to use his speed (while) learning to play a two-way game, forechecking, backchecking, pressuring the puck," Bowman said.

"The offensive game - he's got it. It's going to come through. There's a lot of guys that don't have the puck skills that Alex has. So for those players, you're trying to (help) them work on their skills. He doesn't need to work on his skills. He's got to work on the details of his game, which will allow his skill to come through.

"So the things that we're looking for and the coaches are looking for are:

"Being the first guy on the forecheck; skating; putting pressure on the puck and forcing their defensemen to unload the puck quicker.

"If you come in there slowly, they have more time, they can make better plays. He's one of our best forecheckers.

"Now, you may not think so. But are you charting it? Are you charting how often he pressures the defensemen and forces them to unload the puck quick? And then when he does, how quickly does he come back? And when you compare him to the other wingers in the game, how does he do at that?

"There's eight wingers in the game. Do they all do that? Some of them (aren't) good at that, but they're good at other things. ... If you can play in all situations, against good players, force turnovers, come back, put back pressure on to allow your defense to stay up and not back in - those are all parts of the game that don't translate into points.

"At some point, you've got to put it all together, right? You've got to be able to do all of that and then you've got to be able to make plays and score goals. ... Most of the game you don't have the puck. So how are you doing?

"That's what I would say. Watch the way he tracks the puck and compare him to the other wingers in the game and tell me if you think the same thing. You may see it differently. ...

"We're focused on the details that don't translate into a goal or an assist. That's the difference."