The Blackhawks have found a magical potion to bring out the best in Erik Gustafsson: scratch him.
Even Gustafsson himself notices it.
“Maybe they’ll have to do that every season now,” he joked. “No, no, no.”
Through the first month of the season, the 27-year-old defenseman seemed like a shell of the dynamic offensive blue-liner that finished sixth in the league last season in points by a defenseman.
His offense not only hadn’t reappeared, but it also wasn’t being offset by strong play in his defensive zone. Gustafsson lost his spot on the top pair with Duncan Keith and gradually slid down the lineup, playing fewer than 20 minutes in three straight games from Oct. 26-29 — something that didn’t happen to him once last year.
Then on Nov. 1 against the Kings, Gustafsson was a healthy scratch, with Colliton trying to send a message. And after one game transitioning back into the regular lineup, Gustafsson has now put together his best four-game stretch of the season.
“Feels like I find myself that player I was last year,” he said Sunday. “Feels like I found my confidence back and feels like I’m firm with the puck right now. Feels like I’m taking charge of the puck wherever it is.”
Remarkably, the exact same thing happened last year. After Colliton shockingly scratched Gustafsson in mid-January, he erupted into one of most productive, effective stretches of his career.
And now that phenomenon is unfolding again.
He’s regained his spot with Keith, and attributes that for part of why his confidence has surged back. He played more than 21 minutes against the Sharks and Canucks and a whopping 25:28 against the Penguins before sliding down to 19:08 against the Maple Leafs — an off game for Gustafsson as well as the rest of the defense.
Sunday’s misstep proves the Swede remains occasionally questionable in his own end, and he probably always will be. And his offense remains dry, too: he’ll enter Wednesday’s matchup against the Golden Knights mired in an 11-game pointless drought.
His defense, physicality and puck movement are at least now improving enough to make up for those weaknesses, though.
“He’s a guy who needs to make plays in order to feel like he’s giving to the team, and I think the last few games he just looks more comfortable,” Colliton said last week.
Colliton and Gustafsson sat down when he was scratched to go over video and talk about “being tougher in front of our net,” as Colliton has done regularly with his rotating cast of surprising healthy scratches this season (with great results).
Even though Gustafsson has clearly taken that to heart, his long-term future with the Hawks remains in question.
He’s a pending unrestricted free agent next summer and will command a hefty raise from his current $1.2 million cap hit, which the Hawks may not be able to afford. Adding in the similarities in style between he and future cornerstone Adam Boqvist, Gustafsson will likely hear his name often on the NHL trade rumor mill in the coming months.
Still, the Hawks will want Gustafsson at his best, not only to raise his trade value but also to continue propelling their season turnaround. And scratching him seems to have, yet again, done the trick.
“I thought about my game before, when I got scratched,” he said. “It’s not [enough to] just go out there and be on the ice. I have to be that player to...try to help my team every game. With my offensive skills and stuff, I’ve got to prove more.”
