I've watched the avs since they were Nordiques. Do I qualify as having watched enough of him? People can have differing opinions of players while still having watched the same things.
Game changer, core player, all subjective terms. Each person has their own definitions of these things.
Paul Stastny, IMO, was by far, one of, if not the smartest passer the avs have had in over a decade. His specialty, was getting production out of everyone around him. That poor guy, was literally strapped, to David Jones for 2 or 3 straight seasons. Shockingly, the were most productive seasons in Jones's career. He was a career 30point player that Stastny was able to get 20+ goals from. He wasn't released from Jones' shackles until they trade him for Tanguay. Chris Stewart had his best numbers while playing with Stastny. Mackinnon had his best offensive season as stastny's winger.
So while not a game changer in the sense that we would deke two dmen and score a highlight reel goal, Stastny was a glue player. He elevated the play of everyone around him. He was such an efficient playmaker on this team, its sad to me that so many people ragged on him while he was here.
If he were still here, I have no doubt Mackinnon would be exploding offensively. Because that's just what Stastny did. He knew when to hit you with a pass, and where it would be most effective.
All because he got paid a little more than he should have when he signed his first big contract with Colorado, he was forever coined as Casper. Knowing that ROR was going to leave, I would've gladly signed Stastny.
Not to mention, it probably would've stopped us from signing Iginla AND Soderberg.