Coming off a new extension with the Montreal Canadiens, Jacob de La Rose is in a delicate spot and still has more to prove in order to be a long-term option.
After splitting time between the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and AHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs/St Johns Ice Caps, Jacob de La Rose made the team for the 2017-18 season. However, the competition wasn’t as tough then as the only player in his way was Torrey Mitchell. Michael McCarron could’ve been a rival for that fourth line spot as well, but a disappearing act during the preseason significantly hurt his chances.
The 23-year-old’s position in the lineup wasn’t secure though. There were many times throughout the season where he was made a healthy scratch in favour of Byron Froese. When de La Rose did play, he generally saw around 10 minutes a night, especially in the first half of the season. He relied upon more once Tomas Plekanec was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs that had Artturi Lehkonen added to his right side.
Looking at his WOWYs (With or Without You) maps, it was obvious that de La Rose benefitted from playing with Galchenyuk and Lehkonen as his on-ice score-adjusted shots/60 increased when lined with them.
The main knock on the Sweden native was his inability to put up points. However, there was nothing in his past track record that showed there was budding potential for offence.
- 56 points in 133 AHL games
- 13 points in 49 SHL games
- 14 points in 52 Allsvenskan games (had 6 goals and 6 points in 38 games ahead of his draft in the 2012-13 season)
His defensive capabilities have always been a strength of his. De La Rose managed to finish with a lower 5v5 RelCA/60 (indicating shot suppression) than Plekanec while seeing the highest Quality of Competition (QoC) between the three reliable centres.
- de La Rose: RelCA/60 = -0.91 / QoC CF% = 49.86
- Plekanec: RelCA/60 = 1.89 / QoC CF% = 49.81
- Danault: RelCA/60 = -4.47 /QoC CF% = 49.66
(Note: the lower the RelCA/60 the fewer shots allowed when the player is on the ice vs. when they are off).
This in no way is saying that de La Rose is better than the other two. However, it is a decent starting point for what he can be down the line. And seeing how he was used at the end of the season as well as at the World Hockey Championships – saw time with Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson – should point to future usage.
Playing de La Rose with offensively inclined wingers will be the way to make the most of him. That way he can focus on winning battles along the boards and down low to get the puck to those skilled forwards and create space.
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Although he now has an assumed role, his spot in the lineup is still up in the air. In some ways, de La Rose has a good chance to make the team, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him split time between the ice and the press box again.
If Andrew Shaw isn’t ready to go for the start of the season, we can assume that de La Rose is the team’s fourth-line centre. But Matthew Peca could be a dark horse and push for it as well. However, knowing what Claude Julien expects out of his centres, he’ll need to prove that he can take care of his own end regardless of the offensive opportunities he can generate.
That puts de La Rose in a tough spot if Peca proves to be a reliable option or if adding more scoring to the lineup is a goal heading into the new season as a whole. Between the two the former is a better candidate in that regard.
Peca finished the year with a lower point total than de La Rose but scored at a higher rate (0.5 PPG vs. 0.22 PPG). Again, who mans the line will not only depend on their performance in September, and what the team wants in a fourth-line centre.
De La Rose may have an edge based on familiarity but it’s going to be an important training camp for the 2013 second-round pick. Room in the forward core is de La Rose’s biggest adversary at the moment with the number of wingers clogging up spots. The best thing for him will be to show that the de La Rose the Montreal Canadiens saw who stuck to his strengths wasn’t a fluke.
Acknowledgements: Player stats from eliteprospects.com. WOWYs from hockeyviz.com. All advanced stats are at 5v5 and from Corsica.hockey.