The pause in the NHL season had one benefit: time to heal.
Players who were lost to teams for possibly the remainder of the regular season and playoffs — such as Stanley Cup champion Vladimir Tarasenko in St. Louis or the likes of defencemen Calvin de Haan and Brent Seabrook in Chicago — now appear on their respective teams’ training camp rosters as options.
Unfortunately for the Winnipeg Jets, that isn’t the case for second-line centre Bryan Little, who has been sidelined since November after taking a slapshot to the head.
I’ve spoken of Little’s merits before and how I feel he’s one of the most underrated centres in the game.
Little is a presence offensively and defensively and has a serenity in his game on and off the ice that is difficult to duplicate.
With the loss of Little, Winnipeg acquired Cody Eakin from Vegas at the trade deadline to help fill the void.
But make no mistake, Eakin is not Little. Nor is he trying to be.
Eakin is a third-line centre in the NHL, but the 29-year old is being asked to step up and play a greater role for his hometown Jets. Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice has come out comparing Eakin and Little in their demeanour and professionalism, but let’s be clear that’s not the coach suggesting he expects Eakin to come in and be Little — and no one should.
Both Little and Eakin have played nine seasons in the NHL. In that time, Little has produced 46 more goals and 165 more points than Eakin in 25 fewer games.
This isn’t a hit on Eakin, it’s just facts. That being said, Eakin has a step on Little in the speed department and couple that with the wheels of Nik Ehlers and Patrik Laine on his wings, and some magic moments could be in the making.
But it has to happen fast. The Jets’ five-game series against the Flames doesn’t give Maurice much leash to release on the Eakin experiment.
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