George Richards, FHN Publisher
Matt Kiersted does not appear to be an ordinary rookie defenseman for the Florida Panthers.
Only a week ago, he was deciding which NHL team he was going to sign with after his collegiate career at North Dakota had come to an end in the longest NCAA game ever.
On Thursday, he officially signed with the Panthers; by Saturday night, he made his NHL debut.
By Sunday, he was on the ice in the third period of a game against Columbus while veteran Keith Yandle, for the most part, was not.
In Kiersted’s third NHL game within a span of four days, he was on the ice for the Panthers for 10 third-period shifts against the Carolina Hurricanes in a close game with playoff implications.
Yandle, who owns the NHL’s Ironman streak for consecutive games played at 906, did not leave the bench during that third period.
He was not hurt.
Although coach Joel Quenneville did not go into specifics, he did acknowledge Yandle not playing was a coaches’ decision.
Wednesday morning on the Joe Rose Show with Zach Krantz on WQAM, Quenneville backed away from the notion Yandle was benched.
Quenneville again said that playing seven defensemen in a game leads to altered playing time for some players.
He did say, down 3-2 and the net open, Yandle may have helped the offensive push.
”We could have put him in there,” Quenneville said. “We just didn’t.”
Yandle was called for high-sticking Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton with 3:08 left in the second and the Panthers holding a 1-0 lead.
Vincent Trocheck ended up scoring on that power play and Yandle did not play again.
Florida ended up losing 5-2 in a game much closer than the final score as it was a one-goal game before the Panthers pulled Sergei Bobrovsky in the final minutes.
Throughout the season, Yandle’s time on the ice has fluctuated a bit and is down from the heavy minutes he had been used to playing.
But he has seen some extremes this season. One game after playing 19:40 against Chicago, he was only on the ice for 9:21 against Dallas.
This week alone has seen Yandle go from 15:20 on Saturday to 11:15 on Sunday.
We’ll have to do some research, but the thought here is Yandle hasn’t been limited to the 5:50 he got Tuesday in a long, long time unless he was hurt during a game.
On Sunday, Quenneville explained Yandle’s lack of ice time (he had five third-period shifts) by saying by playing seven defenseman, every “game is different.”
”Certain guys may be getting more than others,” Quenneville said. “The pair with Weegar and Forsling, tonight, took up a lot of ice time. They were out there just about every other shift and did an outstanding job adding to the speed of our game.”
The strong play of Kiersted since he got here not even a week ago has been noticeable.
And, he has been playing a lot of minutes Yandle probably would have.
As the Panthers have gained trust in the 22-year-old, his responsibilities have increased.
“He’s doing alright,” Quenneville said Tuesday. “You have to commend the kid on finding a way to be in the right place, seeing plays, recognizing opportunities on both sides of the puck.
“He really positions himself well. He has some upside and is getting some exposure here in some important games. He’s getting meaningful shifts as well.”
The 21:03 he played on Tuesday were third-most among Florida defensemen behind MacKenzie Weegar and Radko Gudas.
During a 4-on-4 during the second period, he was out there as well.
When asked if he was impressed by Kiersted, veteran d-man Anton Stralman responded: “Very much so.”
”He comes in and fits right in,” Stralman continued. “He plays a straightforward game, makes the right play and doesn’t complicate things. He plays very simple. That’s really what you need from a D, especially coming into the league like that.
”It’s very impressive. It’s not easy coming in midseason like this when things ramp up.
”He’s really solid, man.”
With Aaron Ekblad out for the season, GM Bill Zito is thought to be looking for a top-four defenseman for Florida’s run to the playoffs.
Kiersted may just be an insurance policy.
One of the most sought-after collegiate free agents after being an All-American for North Dakota this season, Kiersted said that Ekblad’s injury — while hard to see — did sway his decision to sign with the Panthers.
Florida, all of a sudden, had a need at defenseman and Kiersted added that to the ‘pro’ side of signing with the Panthers.
“I think I am ready to make the jump to the NHL,” he said Friday morning, the day before he played 12:47 off 19 shifts in his NHL debut with the Panthers.
“As far as Ekblad, that was obviously devastating. I watched that and it is hard to see him go down, knowing what a big piece of this team he is.
“But, that did open the door a little bit for more opportunity here in Florida for, at least, the rest of this year anyways.
“That was in my thought process in picking Florida.”
Said Quenneville of his debut: “I thought he looked very comfortable, showed a lot of poise. He did a lot of good things. I like the way he processes the game. … Really good game for him to start.”
What this means for Yandle is not known right now.
The Panthers made national headlines when it got out they were on the verge of scratching Yandle for the opener against Chicago and ending his Ironman streak which started in 2009.
According to sources, a number of players stepped in and spoke with Zito and Quenneville about it and, the day before the first game, Yandle was back running the top power play and scored a goal in that opening night win against the Blackhawks.
For the past few games, the Panthers have been lining up seven defensemen and 11 forwards but that probably will not be the case for much longer as the team starts preparing for the postseason.
Would the Panthers scratch Yandle?
ON DECK: PANTHERS AT HURRICANES
When: Thursday, 7
Where: PNC Arena; Raleigh, NC
Season series: Carolina leads 4-1
TV/Radio: BSFLA/560-AM