I’m always baffled by coaches who’ll readily scratch young players who are underperforming, but not vets, as though long term trust/damage can only be caused to one of them. Perhaps a guy with the experience of Dillon would direct more anger or resentment towards the coaching staff, sure, but he isn’t likely to start doubting his own game or what he can bring in the same way as when a guy like Vrana or Burakovsky sits out.
You have to wonder if it causes a longer term associative problem for less-established players – if they hit another stretch where their play isn’t as great, or a cold streak, do they start to self-doubt their own game more and more because they’re focussing on that next inevitable benching/scratching, rather than on how to get back to good hockey? Do they come to associate production with simply hanging onto their spot in the lineup, rather than the product itself? Surely part of the problem for a guy like Vrana is learning to play through the bad stretches or cold streaks that all players experience, especially scoring wingers, and he isn’t going to learn that in the press box. We know Burakovsky’s confidence was crushed while he was a Cap (and scratched during every season he played here), but he’s absolutely an NHL regular on a great Colorado team and playing with confidence. Schmidt ended his time in Washington as their #7, and even got pulled in favour of Taylor Chorney at times during the regular season, before immediately leading the Golden Knights to the Cup Finals as their top D. In Washington he was perpetually treated as a kid, in Vegas he was a player. Stephenson’s on a similar path. I’d hate for Vrana to be heading in the same direction.
