His downward trend corresponds pretty closely to Buffalo's downward trend. Going to keep my opinion of him close to my chest until he's had some time to fit in with the stronger D-corp here, and within Maurice's system.
I disagree with his downward trend corresponding with Buffalos downward trend.
For the last year, he has been Buffalos best player, eating tons of minutes against very tough competition. His points have suffered with the downward trend (like every other roster player), but that is the only part of his game that has not improved.
He is difficult to play against because of his size and the fact that he can cover so much ground both with his stride and his wingspan. He is not a physical player in the sense of blowing up guys with checks, but he uses his body well enough.
He is at his very best when he is engaged offensively, gallops with the puck, pinches and moves out of the defensive zone in transition with his skating and passing. He is a beautiful skater. If he is restricted, and has to think too much, he plays scared.
Don't expect him to be Chara and most of you will love him. He is just a bit inconsistent, so that will drive a few people (who expect too much) crazy.