BATTALION BREAKDOWN: Lukas Sedlak

Battalion Breakdown is a closer look at the Blue Jackets' past season from a numerical standpoint, starting with the highest jersey number and counting down to the lowest. Today, BlueJackets.com examines center Lukas Sedlak's season and how it impacted Columbus in the 2017-18 campaign.
Lukas Sedlak
Number:45
Age:25
Birthdate:Feb. 25, 1993
Height/Weight:6-0, 205
Position:Center
Nickname:"Sedzy"
After providing a nice presence on the fourth line as a rookie in 2016-17, Lukas Sedlak hoped to build on that this past season.
Instead, it was a struggle from beginning to end for the young Czech center, who battled two separate injuries and a drop in offensive productivity in his 53 games. Sedlak started out centering the fourth line, a role he held until the Feb. 26 NHL Trade Deadline, but things quickly got off track.
Just eight games into the season, Sedlak sustained a high ankle sprain in practice on a fluke play near the net and missed 13 games. Sedlak said the injury affected his skating the rest of the season, which showed in statistical dips from his rookie campaign.
He grinded through it, maintaining his role as fourth-line center, until the Blue Jackets added three veterans in trades at the deadline. One of those vets was center Mark Letestu, who'd previously been with the Blue Jackets and was re-acquired in a Feb. 25 trade with the Nashville Predators.
Letestu stepped right into a role on the fourth line and soon took over the center spot, which ultimately forced Sedlak out of the lineup when veteran Brandon Dubinsky was moved to the fourth line.

Sedlak returned to the lineup for two games, when Dubinsky was a healthy scratch, but another injury ended his season. He was struck in the head shortly after a face-off in the Florida Panthers' zone Mar. 22 at Nationwide Arena, after being pushed to the ice directly in the path of teammate Seth Jones' slap shot.
He was unable to return to the lineup prior to the end of the regular season and also missed the entire first-round series against the Washington Capitals. Sedlak told BlueJackets.com in May that he's fully recovered and should get a full offseason of training back in the Czech Republic.
Here's a look at his 2017-18 season, by the numbers:
THE BREAKDOWN
8
Sedlak wasn't an offensive juggernaut during his rookie season (2016-17), but he chipped in enough for the fourth line to be dangerous, finishing with 13 points on seven goals and six assists in 62 games. This past season, his production dropped to four goals, four assists and eight points in 53 games. That was partly why he lost his everyday role as the fourth-line center.
52
Sedlak took 72 less face-offs, mainly because injuries led to him playing nine less games, but the second-year center won more than he lost for the second straight season. He won 51. 5 percent of his 371 draws (191 wins), which kept his NHL career average at 52 percent (423-for-814). That's a win rate that will get a coach's attention in a positive way, especially from a checking-line center who plays a lot of defense.
13
During his rookie season, Sedlak was on the ice for 10 more even-strength goals scored than goals allowed. His plus-10 rating was impressive for a fourth-line rookie. This past season, his rating dropped 13 points to minus-3. He was on the ice for 17 even-strength goals scored and 20 allowed.
77
One area where Sedlak's numbers increased was hits, as he became more involved from a physicality standpoint. After delivering 66 hits in 62 games as a rookie (1.1 per game), he dished out 77 hits in 53 games in 2017-18 (1.5 per game).
61.8
As a rookie, Sedlak made 46.5 percent of his situational starts in the offensive zone and 53.5 percent in the defensive zone. His rate of starting on defense went up significantly in his second NHL season. Sedlak started 61.8 percent in the defensive zone and 38.2 percent in the offensive zone. Starting more in the defensive zone made it more difficult for the Blue Jackets to possess the puck when his line was on the ice, which could've contributed to the hike in hits.
1
Sedlak had one major penalty among nine he was called for, and it was a doozy. After watching former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Ryan Reaves deliver a big hit along the boards to linemate Markus Hannikainen Dec. 21 at PPG Paints Arena, Sedlak went after him. He was outsized and outmatched in the scrap, and was whistled for a roughing too, but "Sedzy Cat" drew a lot of respect by sticking up for a teammate. Even Reaves was impressed.
"He dropped his gloves, and he was screaming at me, and the only thing that was going through my head was, 'Do I not know something about you, or do you not know something about me?'" Reaves said. "I was a little confused for a second, but good on him for sticking up for a teammate."