Sheng Peng
So David Quinn was sending William Eklund a message.
On Tuesday night against the Florida Panthers, after back-to-back Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund turnovers led to Ryan Lomberg’s game-opening score with 7:26 left in the first period, the San Jose Sharks’ first-line winger’s next shift was five minutes later…on the fourth line. In between, Mike Hoffman had taken Eklund’s place next to Zetterlund and Tomas Hertl on the top line.
But at the start of the second period, Eklund was back with his regular linemates.
“There was a message,” Quinn said on Wednesday. “We talked about it in between periods.”
The message was about more than the turnover that led to the Lomberg goal.
And Eklund received it loud and clear.
“He and I talked about the opening faceoff too, give up the 2-on-1 four seconds into the game,” Quinn said. “He knew his responsibility there.”
At first glance, this looks like purely a Nikita Okhotiuk (83) mistake, getting pounced on by Sam Reinhart (13).
But watch again and consider how easy it was for Reinhart to close on Okhotiuk. Off the draw, Eklund doesn’t run much of any interference on Reinhart, like he’s supposed to. It’s Eklund’s job to help his defenseman gain the red line, without taking a penalty, of course. But instead, looking for offense, he lets Reinhart run amok on Okhotiuk.
“They wanted me to play harder,” Eklund said of his conversation with Quinn. “Be harder to play against.”
The Lomberg goal was the straw that broke the coach’s back.
Earlier in the shift, Eklund had been lit up by Lomberg, but he appeared no worse for the wear.
Eklund gets the puck, a chance for a counterattack up the left wall. Fabian Zetterlund (20) is chugging up the center lane with a head of steam.
“Right there,” Quinn said. “He had Zetterlund coming, it was a quick indirect, and we [would be] in the offensive zone.”
What Quinn means is that Eklund should’ve bounced it off the wall for Zetterlund to skate into. Instead, Eklund opts for a dangerous pass up the middle that’s picked off.
“We talked about just taking care of the puck between blue lines, that was gonna be pivotal for tonight,” Quinn lamented after the 5-3 loss to Florida.
Comparing Eklund and Zetterlund’s turnovers too, there are shades of difference between them. Intention is a big one. Eklund made a bad decision, whereas Zetterlund simply couldn’t corral the puck. There’s a lesson to be learned in one of those mistakes, not so much the other.
“I didn’t love that line early,” Quinn said.
So that’s why Quinn benched Eklund. In the education of a young player, playing time is pretty much a modern day’s coach only stick.
“It’s a 21-year-old learning how to play in the National Hockey League,” he said.
And that’s it, right? Nobody is denying, certainly not Quinn, the promise that Eklund has shown this year. But he’s still a very young player learning to navigate the best league in the world.
There’s going to be highs and lows, peaks and valleys.
“We had a down game,” Eklund said of his line.
It’s all part of shaping him to be the best player possible, someone who can be a key contributor to the San Jose Sharks’ next playoff team.
Message sent and received, Quinn was quick to put the carrot out for Eklund again, reuniting him with Hertl and Zetterlund for the last two periods.
“I thought they got better as the game went on,” Quinn said.
He added: “Sometimes, [a benching] doesn’t have to be for two periods, right? It’s sending a message and give a guy that’s played well an opportunity to recover from it.”