Mathieu Olivier staying patient with reduced role for Columbus Blue Jackets
Mathieu Olivier is following his father’s advice.
More: GM Jarmo Kekalainen on Columbus Blue Jackets at midpoint: 'We've got to keep climbing'
Simon Olivier, who played professionally and coached at the amateur level, knows his son’s role better than anybody and has imparted some wisdom while Mathieu deals with a lessened role this season.
“I try not to be in the coach’s office every other day,” Olivier said. “My dad always told me, ‘Fourth line guys have to be low maintenance guys,' so I just try to keep away from the coach’s office, come in and do my thing. But, once in a while, I like to touch base and see what’s up.”
It’s been a difficult season for Olivier, a healthy scratch in 19 of the Blue Jackets’ first 42 games. After getting a raise from $750,000 per year on his previous contract to $1.1 million per season on a two-year deal he signed last summer, that’s not what he anticipated.
Olivier was a staple last season. He was only a healthy scratch three times and former Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen used him in a regular role at right wing on a fourth line that included Eric Robinson and center Sean Kuraly. They became Larsen’s “go to” forward group in a season plagued by injury, but a lot has changed.
Olivier missed the final 11 games last season with an undisclosed leg injury that also caused him to miss the start of this season’s training camp. Larsen was also replaced by Mike Babcock, who resigned under scrutiny days before camp. Vincent was promoted to head coach, and then Robinson was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in December.
“The communications have been good,” Olivier said. “I’ve been getting the reasons why (I’m sitting), and I guess the message is that whatever I can control is not really the problem. At that point, there’s not much you can do.”
Mathieu Olivier's reduced role related to Columbus Blue Jackets' youth movement
Olivier’s predicament is mostly a numbers game.
While he remains the Blue Jackets’ top enforcement option among forwards, the decision to scratch him is easier against teams with more skill than grit. At 6-foot-1, 222 pounds, Olivier is a grizzly power forward who provides a physical presence along with added muscle in the corners.
What he lacks is a consistent scoring punch with just one goal, four assists and five points in 22 games. The result is that Olivier is no longer a sure thing to play despite Kuraly, Boone Jenner and Patrik Laine all missing from the Jackets’ forward group.
“I don’t know if there’s anything more (Olivier) can do to stay in the lineup because he’s doing everything he possibly can,” Vincent said. “It’s just the situation he’s in, the structure of our team and where we’re at in the standings. A part of it is certainly on him, but there’s a part he doesn’t control.”
That part is related to playing a group of younger forwards while trying to speed up their NHL maturation process. The one who most significantly impacts Olivier is rookie Dmitri Voronkov, a massive center who plays with a similar approach and uses his 6-5, 240-pound frame effectively.
Olivier had 5-10-15 in 66 games last season and a -20 plus/minus rating that wasn’t out of the ordinary for a struggling team. His stay in Columbus was extended with the two-year contract, but that only guaranteed a salary.
Ice time is doled out by coaches.
More: Collapse spoils Sillinger hat trick, leaves Columbus Blue Jackets reeling: 5 takeaways
“Is it driving me nuts? Absolutely,” Olivier said. “But my job is to not show that when I’m here. My job is to not be a distraction, be a veteran, be a leader, be here for the guys, make them laugh and show the way out there in practice with work ethic and habits. That’s all stuff that I can control. The rest is out of my hands.”
Get more Columbus Blue Jackets talk on the Cannon Fodder podcast
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mathieu Olivier dealing with lesser role for Columbus Blue Jackets
