Brent Seabrook Is A Healthy Scratch Again And This Entire Situation Absolutely SUCKS
There’s no way to feel good about this situation with Brent Seabrook. It sucks. I am sure he feels fine. I am sure he also knows deep down that he isn’t the player that he once was. He is also the guy who has probably been the most negatively impacted by Colliton’s switch from zone to man in the defensive zone. When you play man, or man plus, you need guys with quick feet to play it effectively. That just isn’t Seabs and it hasn’t been for a while.
Having said all of that…there is no way in hell that you can sit there and tell me that Slater Koekkoek is a legitimately better option than Seabrook. I understand they beat LA with Seabrook being scratched in the second half of a back-to-back. If you want to roll out the same lineup that you won a game with…okay, I suppose. Have the same line up…with the exception of Seabrook being put back in there. I am not saying he is good. I am saying he is more valuable than Slater Koekkoek. I understand that Koekkoek has had some better “analytics” but I don’t love using shots as a proxy for possession in general and LA sucks. If the staff put Seabrook against the Kings and Koekkoek against the Canes then maybe the numbers look differently.
What makes this even more uncomfortable is that Seabrook is a scratch with Connor Murphy out hurt. That means that the staff thinks there are actually 7 defensemen better than Seabrook right now. That is a tough pill to swallow not just for Seabrook but for guys like me who love him. We all knew this day was coming. He’s been slowing down and the Hawks have Boqvist, Mitchell, Beaudin, Gilbert, etc knocking on the door. If the Hawks thought Boqvist was ready and better than Seabrook right now and Seabs became a consistent healthy scratch because they’re handing the keys to Boqvist or Mitchell or whoever…handing them to a guy who is a part of the future, then fine. I could accept that. Benching him for Slater Koekkoek? No. I can’t. That I can’t abide. I never need to see Koekkoek play again. We know what he is. He’s a PRIME example of a AAAA player. He’ll bounce around the NHL as a depth player for the next 5 years before he eventually tries to revive his career and get another paycheck in the KHL or Swedish League. He’s not a part of this team’s future, or present. Don’t upset the apple cart for a guy like that. Free Seabs