HAWKSWINHAWKSWIN said:
Just an observation but people still tend to rank Staal way up there in most "whos going to be great down the road" polls. I know his point production has fallen way off (over the edge of a cliff- off). Is he still showing signs of brilliance and projected to be the next Ron Francis? I realize its late in the year and the season has probably taken its toll on him. What can be expected of him, now that everyone has had a full season to look at him? Is he still classified as first line material? Or has his stocked droppped at all?
Well, lets not forget that Staal was 18 to start the season and is 19 years old now. There are quite a few big names in this league already that hadn't touched a sheet of NHL ice yet at that point. 30 points for a player as young as Staal should be considered a success. We've been spoiled by great campaigns from players like Rick Nash, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Patrice Bergeron lately and it makes it hard to accept that a young player like Staal can have a successful season and not put up points in bunches yet. Jason Spezza didn't even play in the NHL yet at Staal's age, and you see how everyone still ranks him at the top of their lists.
The major issue with Staal is the fact that he has hit the rookie wall. Had that not happened, he would have been good for 40-45 points this year and would probably be in the thick of the Calder talks. With body maturation and development time, Staal is still on track to develop into a point per game player. It has just been deadly obvious to anyone who watches Hurricanes hockey that Staal is just tired and worn out. It has nothing to do with his skill level, it's just that his young frame isn't used to the demand of an 82 game NHL schedule yet. The fact still remains that during the preseason and the first 25 games of the season he was lights out. 7 goals in his first 7 preseason games and 15 points or so in his first 25 games.
However, after seeing more of him i'm seeing less and less of Ron Francis. Mike Modano is looking more like the right comparison to me. I was under the impression that Staal was a playmaker first and foremost, but this kid loves to score. He is also a lot faster than Francis and skates a heck of a lot better. I'm not saying by any stretch he'll have a better career than Francis, but they are two differant types of players. 30G 50A seasons is probably how i'd expect him to reach a point per game.
