TJ Tynan is fresh off of his second pro season, and second season in a row leading a Columbus AHL affiliate in points. After putting up 48 points in his rookie season, Tynan followed up by notching 6 goals and 40 assists in 76 games for the Calder Cup champion Lake Erie Monsters in 2015/16. Tynan faltered a bit in the AHL play-offs, with just a goal and 5 assists in 17 games, but was also used in more of a depth role, often playing middle six minutes with secondary powerplay time.
During his AHL time, the 5’8”, 165 pounder has been used in all situations by Monsters/Falcons coach Jared Bednar, earning his trust with safe plays at both ends of the rink. Tynan isn’t going to wow anyone with his flashy stickhandling or high-risk moves, but he is a smart offensive centre with good on-ice vision. His main offensive strength is his playmaking. He often finds teammates in main shooting lanes, or puts them in a position to get into a scoring chance area. He is occasionally prone to passing up prime shots to force a puck to a teammate, and shows very little confidence in his own shooting ability. In fact, Tynan was just 8th on the Monsters in shots per game, with only 1.85, which put him behind defenders like John Ramage and Michael Paliotta.
During the Calder Cup play-offs, I tracked seven Lake Erie games. In those games, Tynan’s line with Kerby Rychel and (mostly) Josh Anderson was not a net positive. Tynan, specifically, did not contribute much in the way of shot attempts or scoring chances. Over those seven games, Tynan was on the ice for 87 5v5 shot attempts for, and 107 against, for a 44.8% Corsi, quite a bit below the team average. Tynan took just 11 5v5 shot attempts in those games, and produced 3 scoring chances. Even as a playmaker, you would hope to see more offense generation out of him, especially when he’s on a line with two guys who have NHL experience.
Tynan’s tireless work ethic is something that will always impress his coaches and teammates. He shows little fear, will battle in the corners with anyone, and is willing to get to the dirty areas. He uses his shiftiness and elusiveness to avoid defenders on the rush, which makes up for his only slightly above average speed and lack of explosiveness. Defensively, Tynan is responsible and aware, choosing to make safe plays rather than high-risk/high-reward plays. This is reflected somewhat in his zone entry numbers, where he averaged just under 7 exits per game, but relied on the usually safer option of dumping the puck out of the zone just as much as breaking it out with an attempted rush. Mixing his defensive acumen with his offensive prowess gives him reliability at both ends of the rink and the ability to play anywhere in Cleveland’s top nine. He’s best utilized with a shooter on his wing, as his career AHL numbers of 19 goals vs 75 assists would indicate.
Future Outlook
With the departure of Michael Chaput, it would seem that TJ Tynan is probably the best candidate to fill in the role of a “tweener” depth centre with Columbus, getting called up to fill a slot on the 4th line when necessary. Otherwise, he’ll be counted on to once again lead the Monsters forward depth in scoring in search of another deep play-off run. Tynan is a candidate to wear an “A” for the Monsters this year, what with Chaput and Trent Vogelhuber no longer on the team.
A top-six AHL forward is the most likely ceiling for Tynan, but spot time in the NHL with someone who can take a shot once in a while (a 4th line with Matt Calvert might work, for example) could result in Tynan impressing enough to earn an extended stay or a possible full-time role with an NHL team down the line.
Age: 24 (02/25/1992)
Position: Center
Shoots: Right
Height/Weight: 5’8″, 165
2015/16 Team: Lake Erie Monsters (AHL)
Likely 2016/17 Destination: Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Previous Profiles
#25 Scott Harrington
#24 Keegan Kolesar
– Jeremy
Follow me on twitter, @307x.
Featured image courtesy of John Saraya/Cleveland Monsters.
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