Just five games into Libor Hajek’s NHL career with the New York Rangers, the 20-year-old defenseman suffered a separated shoulder. Unfortunately, a promising start will have to be put on hold for a while.
Even though five games is an extremely minuscule sample size when it comes to evaluating talent, the play of Libor Hajek in that brief stint should have been encouraging. The New York Rangers originally acquired the defenseman as part of the Ryan McDonagh trade last year as the cornerstone of the package.
Even though the Czech got off to a rough start with the organization as a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack, he played well in limited NHL time. Granted, injuries are part of every NHL player’s career and something that happen with regularity, but it’s still disappointing that something out of Hajek’s control slammed the breaks on his development.
There’s nothing flashy to Hajek’s game, he skates well, makes high percentage plays and doesn’t think too much with the puck on his stick. To be a consistent regular in the top four at the NHL level it would likely take an improvement of Hajek’s offensive skills. Of course, at only 20-years-old there is considerable time to improve in the offensive end of the ice.
For fun, let’s look at Hajek’s play in the ice time he did get before injuring his shoulder. There is still no timetable for the defenseman’s return from injury and he may not return this season with no need to rush back.
The right stuff
Part of what makes an impactful defenseman is the ability to drive possession and maintain control of the puck in the offensive zone. This includes proper spacing and position, meaning that even if a player doesn’t have the puck, where they are on the ice still matters and sets things up for other players.
The red spaces on the chart above indicate areas in which the Rangers create more shots per hour than the league average. Since a majority of the red space comes from areas close to the net and the left point that indicates that Hajek is successfully creating or taking unblocked shots.
Even more encouraging from Hajek is the lack of quality shots the other team creates while he’s on the ice. Far too many of the Ranger defenseman struggle at the spacing in the defensive zone, but Hajek as responsible for the left-hand side does a solid job of holding scoring chances to the outside.
Again, even though it’s less than two hours of ice time into Hajek’s NHL career, there was plenty to like. The Rangers need to clear up the defensive log jam to give the former second-round pick a legitimate chance at making the opening night lineup for the 2019-2020 season.
It is absolutely crucial for the organization to set Hajek up for long-term success. That means giving the 20-year-old every chance to a full-time NHL player going into his age 21 year and not rushing him back from injury.