For five years Marc Methot knew exactly who he would play with every game.
He was the perfect fit for Erik Karlsson during his time with the Ottawa Senators. Methot’s defensive-minded, physical style worked well with Karlsson’s ability to push the play and drive offense from the blue line.
It formed a pairing that was difficult to play against and, over the course of five seasons together, Methot was a defensive anchor that allowed Karlsson to morph and evolve into one of the best hockey players — not just defenseman, players — on the planet.
“I do like that offset where you have an offensive guy with a more defensive guy,” Methot said. “When I say defensive-minded guy, I don’t just mean a guy who is chipping it off the glass all the time, we are still making outlet passes too. But we maybe don’t have some of that offensive ability in the o-zone that those other guys have. I still like that you have maybe a stronger more defensive guy with that offensive player, it seems to work out very well and it’s worked out well for me in the past.”
Now the search is on for Methot’s future partner as he prepares for his first season with the Dallas Stars.
“Marc is best when he plays against the other team’s best players, so we’ve got to find a way for him to impact the game that way,” Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock said. “So whoever he’s playing with, he’s got to be a real good player and a real sturdy player.”
At first glance you’d think John Klingberg would be the obvious candidate. In fact, when the Stars made the trade for Methot with the Vegas Golden Knights in late June (which was made possible by the expansion draft) the popular assumption was that that duo would be paired together on opening night.
But that doesn’t look like it’s going to be the case for Hitchcock, who discussed his thoughts on potential pairings earlier this week.
“We know the way Methot plays and we’ve got to find somebody who fits well with him because we can’t ask Klinger to do everything,” Hitchcock said. “Can’t ask him (Klingberg) to go out and check the best players, run the power play, kill all the penalties. Other people got to step up and take that responsility too. We’re going to give these young guys that opportunity, hopefully somebody steps up and takes it.”
So is this an attempt to protect Klingberg from tougher competition?
“You can’t play a guy in every situation and expect him not to fall off at times. It’s too much ice,” Hitchcock said. “I think it’s unfair for Klinger, we’ve got to space him out a bit better if we want to get more production from the player. I think what happens is when you get overplayed you make mistakes. So we want him fresh in his mind and fresh in his legs.”
That would indicate Klingberg could still be paired with Esa Lindell, his defensive partner from last season. That duo played together in the first preseason game and Hitchcock said he wants to give it a chance to work, “because if they are a good pair, that can allow us to play Methot with somebody else.”
If we take Klingberg out of the equation that leaves a group of five players that could grab a spot playing next to Methot: Julius Honka, Stephen Johns, Greg Pateryn, Jamie Oleksiak, and Patrik Nemeth.
Johns had the first chance to play with Methot in Tuesday’s preseason game, but Hitchcock plans to give each of those players an opportunity in either games or practice throughout the preseason.
Methot’s happy with that approach and said it’s important for him to develop chemistry with his defensive partner, whoever that may be.
“I won’t know until I have an opportunity to start playing with them in games, to be honest with you. I’m aware of what certain guys bring to the table but there tendencies and all that, that takes time,” Methot said. “And it doesn’t just take one or two ice sessions, it takes weeks. So hopefully we can figure out who our partners will be sooner than later and get those reps in.”
Let’s look at each candidate a bit closer.
Julius Honka
Honka is right-handed and he’s an elusive puck handler. He likes to freelance a bit more, and he’d provide a nice offensive mix with Methot’s defensive mindset. This potential pairing is a bit reminiscent of Methot’s early days in Ottawa. In his first season with the Senators Methot was paired with a 22-year-old Karlsson, Honka will turn 22 in December. The problem with this pairing? Honka likely isn’t going to get much time on the penalty kill and that’s where the Stars want Methot to do the heavy lifting.
Stephen Johns
Johns played with Methot in the first preseason game and provides a bit of a hybrid between a puck-mover like Honka and a stay-at-home option like Pateryn or Nemeth. He is a strong skater with a heavy shot, but isn’t a creative offensive maestro that will quarterback your power play. Johns playing with Methot would create a big, physical pairing that you wouldn’t need to separate on when shorthanded. Methot could also help improve Johns’ hockey IQ and playing with a veteran could restore some confidence in the right-handed defender.
Greg Pateryn
Pateryn has had a strong training camp and has played a simple, physical game that has been a bit under appreciated. He doesn’t check the box as an offensive defenseman, but he does play a similar style to Methot and those defensive strengths could feed off of each other. Pateryn is also right-handed so it would fit well in the left-right alignment.
Jamie Oleksiak
Oleksiak should be able to play a much simpler and more effective game under Hitchcock. Perhaps that would work well paired with Methot? Oleksiak would also have a safety net for when he decides to make one of his patent pushes up the ice and ends up below the opposing goal line for an entire shift.
Patrik Nemeth
Nemeth is the dark horse candidate to play with Methot. He can play a more physical and defensively-sound game, and playing with one of the biggest offseason acquisitions could quell some of the confidence issues from last season. He’s left-handed so that could be a knock against the lefty-righty setup, but it would be a pair you’d trust at both five-on-five and shorthanded, and wouldn’t worry about them ever wasting energy on the power play.
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