Panther Shuffle: Grimaldi, Olsen Down; Bolland Up; Petrovic Off IR

Nothing like a little roster movement around the holidays, huh? The Panthers made a few small roster moves today, which were:

• Rocco Grimaldi and Dylan Olsen returned to Portland (AHL)
• Dave Bolland recalled from conditioning stint at Portland (AHL)
• Alex Petrovic activated from Injured Reserve

These are not huge moves, but it is worth it to take a closer look for a moment.

First, let’s start with the defensemen. Obviously, Dylan Olsen is being sent down in order to bring Alex Petrovic back into the lineup. Olsen has done a decent job filling in during Petrovic’s absence. He was able to come into the lineup, and team up primarily with Erik Gudbranson to give the team a defensive pairing with instant familiarity. His score adjusted CF% of 45.7 is not awfully flattering. However, I believe that’s something the Panthers could live with on a short term, relief basis though. Petrovic clocked in at 47.9% CF% through his first 21 games, so the defensemen are not worlds apart from each other.

Also consider their score adjusted CFrel%. Dylan Olsen in his eight game stint, put up a score adjusted CFrel% of -0.09 (per War on Ice), which Petrovic has a CFrel% of +0.55 in 21 games. That’s not far off, with Petrovic being slightly better. Petrovic’s numbers also came at a time when Dave Bolland was still getting ice time (3.56 TOI/gm with Petrovic, 1.13 TOI/gm with Olsen, per Hockey Analysis). This looks appropriate to me. Petrovic should be a regular in the lineup, and Olsen is an adequate reserve option should the need arise.

Moving on from the defensemen, let us now focus on what happened up front today. At face value, this is another one for one swap. Rocco Grimaldi was essentially swapped for Dave Bolland. Simple one for one swap, just like the defense, right?

Not so fast, this one is a bit more nuanced.

Grimaldi looked fine in his four game stint, better than his first one, even though this one was much shorter. It showed in the stat sheet, as Grimaldi was a positive possession player in his last three games (80.5/58.4/56.0). Overall, he was at 58.9%, often playing in Derek MacKenzie’s spot on the 4th line.

I believe part of why is that Grimaldi was used at center this time around, as opposed to wing. Rocco is obviously not a big guy, and to have him on the boards, trying to outmuscle bigger players may not be the best use of his talents. Centers typically have more defensive responsibility than wingers, but Rocco appears to have the tools to deal with that. However, I think he should probably still be getting his reps in the AHL rather than kicking it on the 4th line here, so I have no issue with him going back to Portland.

Now, this may seem like a clean Rocco for Bolland swap in the lineup. However, that does not appear to be the case. Gerard Gallant confirmed at practice that Bolland will not play tomorrow night against Ottawa. Instead, Derek MacKenzie returned to practice today, playing center between Brandon Pirri and Logan Shaw.

It is also interesting to note that Corban Knight was not returned to Portland, and remained with the team today. Knight has looked good since coming up from Portland, putting in a 55.9 score adjusted CF% along with 2 assists. His line with Brandon Pirri and Logan Shaw looked real good, exactly what you would want out of your 3rd line.

I will say I have reservations about MacKenzie taking Knight’s spot on the 3rd line, and not going to the 4th line. MacKenzie has spent more time on the 4th line, and I feel his game is better suited for that line and role. The 3rd line, after all, is a scoring-focused line.

Furthermore, Knight seemed to gel well with Pirri and Shaw. They all look comfortable with each other, and the numbers are there to feel good about. As with Grimaldi, it is a very small sample size, so this performance may not represent Knight’s true talent level. However, I feel like they should be given more time together.

All in all though, it is nice to see Petrovic back healthy, and to see that Corban Knight will continue to get a chance to show his stuff on the NHL stage, even if it is on the fourth line.