DD has 13 pts in 36 games, what is wrong with that for a 3rd liner? Luke couldn't say enough good things about him & his line at the beginning of the yr. His job is to stop the other team's top lines & IMO he does that very effectively, if he also happens to pick up pts that's a bonus. He has good size, is tough & very good defensively & occassionally contributes offensively. It would be great if he scored a lot more but then he wouldn't be on the 3rd line. Is Zibane doing any better scoring than DD?
That scoring pace is in the AHL, which is an indicator of a player's skill level.
Look at the AHL scoring of some of our current bottom 6 players.
Greening - 40 points in 59 games
Z. Smith - 41 points in 68 games
Condra - 47 points in 55 games
Regin - 47 points in 56 games
O'Brien - 56 points in 74 points
Daugavins - 54 points in 73 games
Dziurzynski - 26 points in 70 games (this year's pace)
One of these is out of place. I've highlighted it to make it easier to see. The guy's puck skills are not at NHL level right now.
Drooling over every player who is more than 6'2 won't make them better hockey players. DD needs to get better or he's never gonna be an everyday player in the NHL no matter how much you "like" how he's big and tough and muscular.