The Puck Stops Here

I believe that the only meaningful way to answer the question of who the worst player in the NHL at a given time is to include only players who are playing regularly on their team. In all likelihood, there are in fact worse players around but they do not get a chance to play a regular shift. In order to get a chance to play regularly, usually the player is an established NHLer who is reasonably expected to start playing better.

It was in this mindset, that I picked Shawn McEachern of the Boston Bruins and then later when I thought McEachern picked up his game a bit I picked Wade Belak of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now that McEachern has cleared waivers and Belak has been out with injury (he has only played one game since November 6th), it is time for a new pick.

My pick is Steven Goertzen of the Columbus Blue Jackets. I am a bit suprised that a player like him could have enough ice time to even qualify for such a dishonor. With the week Blue Jackets this year, Goertzen has scored zero points in 19 games. He is a -8 with 12 shots on goa from right wing. I suppose his "value" to the Blue Jackets is as a goon since he does have 24 penalty minutes. Goertzen is a rookie who was Columbus's seventh round draft pick in 2002. Last year he split his time between the AHL and ECHL. In the AHL he scored a huge nine points in 57 games. In the ECHL he scored 3 points in eleven games. He did manage 100 penalty minutes in the AHL last year. In fact, he did not make the Blue Jackets immediately out of training camp. He started the year with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. In three games he didn't score at all.

So why is he in the NHL? Can't Columbus find somebody with more of an upside to play in his spot?

NOTE: One could argue that Doug MacLean and the Columbus Blue Jackets have reached the same conclusion that I have since they sent Goertzen to the minors the day after I wrote this post. Although, most likely the move was made because of a scheduling fluke. Columbus does not play for a week. So they sent Goertzen down to save money. I bet they call him back up for their next game.