Offseason Options: Could Casey Cizikas help the Oilers?

In the next in my series of offseason acquisition options, I’ll be looking into the possible merits of the Oilers pursuing C Casey Cizikas of the New York Islanders.

What has he done recently?

As of writing this, Cizikas is in the final phase of his season with the Isles as they try to push their way into the Conference Finals. At 5-on-5 this season, he potted 7 goals and 14 points in a full 56-game schedule while averaging 11:26 TOI.

This equates to 1.29 pts/60 which constitutes something between 3rd and 4th line levels of offense and would tie him with Chiasson for 7th among regular Oiler forwards. His team got outscored 19-21 (47.5% GF) and out-chanced 234-272 (46.3% SCF) while seeing 34.1% of the faceoffs in the offensive zone- the most defensive role so far.

In the two seasons prior to this, he and his linemates (Matt Martin & Cal Clutterbuck) formed what was known by many as the “Best 4th Line in Hockey”. In 640 mins together over that time, the trio lived up to the name by outsourcing their opposition 21-15 (58.3% GF) and controlled the share of high-danger chances 125-88 (58.7% HDCF). While the line’s results are impressive, Cizikas’ positive impact on the line becomes evident when you look at each member’s results both apart from each other.

w/ Martin; w/o Clutterbuck: 10-6 GF
w/ Clutterbuck; w/o Martin: 10-7 GF
Clutterbuck & Martin w/o Cizikas: 1-4 GF

Cizikas w/o either: 8-4 GF
Martin w/o either: 4-8 GF
Clutterbuck w/o either: 1-4 GF

From these numbers, we can reasonably deduce that Cizikas is the one that’s driving the positive results on the “Best 4th Line in Hockey”. Then what about this year? Well, the line as a whole continued to be an effective line keeping the goal share even at 13-13 and out chancing opposition 67-54 (55.4% HDCF) but both Cizikas and Clutterbuck saw their numbers suffer when Martin was out of the lineup, getting outscored 2-7 (22.2% GF).

What could he bring to the Oilers?

More from Oil On Whyte

He’s a key penalty killer for the Isles where he averages over a 1:30 mins/game in each of the past 6 seasons and he seems to fare decently well. Much like with Bonino, his numbers likely take a hit by virtue of often being the first guy out on the initial faceoff, but his efforts keep his results from dipping too far.

Aside from this, he’s a quality faceoff man (53.2%), a physical player (10.8 hits/60; around Shore), and demonstrates above-average defensive skills (2.6 blocks/60 & 2.1 takeaways/60; around Khaira & Yamamoto, respectively).

Finally, how does he fare in the playoffs? While his numbers don’t jump off the page, he seems to succeed in playing the shutdown role by preventing his team from being outscored when he’s on the ice despite being tasked with a highly defensive role (33.6% of his faceoffs start in the D-zone).

Conclusion

While not a conventional 3C, I think Cizikas would represent a good bet at an alternative path to upgrading our bottom-6. This path would focus on improving our 4th line to such a level that it reduces the burden on our 3rd line which can then be deployed more favorably. Such a 3rd line could then be manned by younger players with more offensive skill like Benson and McLeod. Further, his relentless work ethic would be something that could help set the tone for an Oilers team that fluctuates at times.

What are your thoughts on Cizikas for the Oilers? Is this alternate path to upgrading the bottom-6 something you’d pursue? Are there other players you’re interested in reading more about? Let me know in the comments!

(Stats per Natural Stat Trick)

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