Alex Biega wasn’t supposed to play for the Canucks this season. The Canucks had a wealth of right-side defencemen: Chris Tanev, Kevin Bieksa, Yannick Weber, Adam Clendening, and Frank Corrado. Then that right-side depth got wiped out.
Even still, Biega wasn’t meant to be on the Canucks, to the point that he was named captain of the Utica Comets. Generally, AHL teams will pick a captain that is expected to stay in the AHL. The past two captains of the Comets were Colin Stuart and Cal O’Reilly, both AHL veterans with little chance of earning a call-up.
Biega, with his 333 AHL games and just 7 in the NHL, was likely seen as a safe choice as captain for the Comets. But thanks to a series of injuries and some solid play from Biega, it’s beginning to look more and more like the Comets will be without their captain for the rest of the season.
After the Canucks got pulverized by the Kings, Willie Desjardins singled out Alex Biega and said he won’t be going anywhere.
“He has impressed me,” said Desjardins. “You don’t have to be the biggest guy. It’s how hard you want to play and he won’t be coming out of the lineup – he won’t. Others will come out.”
Biega has certainly played hard, but has he played well enough to push other defencemen out of the lineup?
With all of the injuries to the Canucks’ defence, Biega has taken on more-and-more responsibility, to the point that he’s been playing on the top pairing with Alex Edler. He’s handled that responsibility well, though Edler should be given some credit for the top pairing’s performance in Tanev’s absence.
If you look at the underlying numbers, however, Biega’s performance starts to look a little uglier.
Biega is carrying a 44.48 corsi percentage, better than only Luca Sbisa among Canucks defencemen. While corsi isn’t everything, it is a bad sign that the Canucks give up far more shot attempts than they get with him on the ice.
It’s not just attempts: the Canucks have been out-shot with Biega on the ice. That’s not really news, however: the Canucks have been out-shot with every defenceman on the ice except Edler and Tanev. But the Canucks give up more shots per 60 minutes with Biega than any defenceman except Matt Bartkowski.
And it’s not just shots: the Canucks have given up more scoring chances per 60 minutes with Biega on the ice than any defenceman except Bartkowski and Sbisa.
So why haven’t the Canucks given up more goals with him on the ice? That might have something to do with the .946 save percentage Canucks’ goaltenders are putting up behind him. That’s highest among Canucks defencemen and 25th highest among NHL defencemen with at least 100 minutes played. With even average goaltending behind him, we’d likely see a lot more goals with Biega on the ice and a lot more plays to dissect Biega’s defensive performance.
It’s a bad sign when your name keeps coming up in relation to Bartkowski and Sbisa, who are two of the worst defencemen who get regular minutes in the NHL. On the other hand, it’s a positive sign when you can say that Biega is at least not as bad as Bartkowski and Sbisa.
There’s also something to be said for his effort level and willingness to engage physically despite his size and he's been an effective penalty killer as well. His solid performance alongside Edler is certainly enough for me to think he deserves some more time at the NHL level to prove himself.
At the very least, he’s better than Bartkowski defensively and when paired with a puck-mover—say, Ben Hutton—he could be a serviceable third pairing defenceman. That’s a lot more than anyone expected out of Biega this season.
* All statistics from war-on-ice.com
