When right winger Brett Connolly signed a one year, $850K contract with Washington in the summer, some believed that playing in a more offensive-oriented environment might help unlock the potential he has shown over the years after being the sixth overall pick to Tampa Bay back in 2010. However, he has been a healthy scratch for nearly half the season and admitted to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post that his lack of playing time has been taking its toll on him:
“It’s obviously frustrating, you don’t want to be sitting out no matter what the reason is. But we’ve talked about kind of my situation and what’s going to be going on moving forward.
“I need to be playing. I need to be out there, so we’ll see. It’s obviously a big year. I’m being patient, and there’s still 51 games left. There’s still a big chunk of the season left and then playoffs, so you’ve just got to stick with it and hopefully you can get in there and be kept in there and play well and produce.”
Connolly has played in 17 games this season, scoring three times while adding an assist. However, ice time has been hard to come by as he has spent the bulk of the year on the fourth line when he has played and as a result is playing less than 11 minutes a night. He’ll get another chance as he will be back in the lineup tonight against Tampa Bay but once again will be on the fourth line.
Elsewhere around the league:
- The Stars are likely to dress seven defensemen tonight as they take on the Kings, notes Mark Stepneski of Stars Inside Edge. Dallas is still without Cody Eakin due to his four game suspension and they are not permitted to replace him on the active roster. Meanwhile, winger Antoine Roussel and defenseman Stephen Johns are both listed as doubtful but are also on the active roster, leaving them without a spot to bring up an extra forward. Head coach Lindy Ruff said that if they have to use a defender as a forward at times, it will be either Patrik Nemeth or Jamie Oleksiak.
- After recently returning to the lineup from a groin strain, Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov has once again been sidelined with a groin issue, the team announced via Twitter. Varlamov had a tough night against Toronto on Thursday night, allowing five goals on 18 shots before being pulled. Spencer Martin has been recalled and will back up Calvin Pickard until Varlamov is ready to return.
- The Detroit/Carolina game that was postponed due to ice issues earlier this week has been rescheduled for March 27th, the league announced. Interestingly enough, this creates a rare three games in three nights for the Red Wings who host the Wild on the 26th and already were scheduled to play in Carolina on the 28th.