Darth Vitale
Dark Matter
It's tough to evaluate a guy properly when the entire team including super stars are playing like dog **** every other night, but my general impressions so far:
+ More mobile than Staal and very good defensive awareness as ColePens said.
+ Quicker hands than Staal but hasn't been in our system long enough yet to produce much offensively. Chances have been few and far between, and like I said his line-mates have been playing like crap along with the rest of the team.
- Not nearly as physically imposing as Staal, so their defensive games are different. Staal is the more intimidating player in terms of slowing the other team down and I don't see that changing unless Sutter can add another 15 lbs of muscle without slowing down any. Call in Gary Roberts.
Seems he's a naturally skinny guy and so he physical makeup won't change much on account of his metabolism. Maybe as he gets into his upper 20s he could put on a few lbs of muscle (if he's still here). We'll see.
Overall I'm happy with the trade. Losing Staal for nothing vs. losing him for a very solid replacement a good D prospect and a great D prospect... hard to be anything but thankful. I'd say on balance you got the best player in the deal but we got enough assets that Shero will be able to use the added D prospect depth to acquire another F. So in the grand scheme of things the final results of the trade may not be known for us yet; I think it will have consequences beyond the specific players involved.
+ More mobile than Staal and very good defensive awareness as ColePens said.
+ Quicker hands than Staal but hasn't been in our system long enough yet to produce much offensively. Chances have been few and far between, and like I said his line-mates have been playing like crap along with the rest of the team.
- Not nearly as physically imposing as Staal, so their defensive games are different. Staal is the more intimidating player in terms of slowing the other team down and I don't see that changing unless Sutter can add another 15 lbs of muscle without slowing down any. Call in Gary Roberts.
Seems he's a naturally skinny guy and so he physical makeup won't change much on account of his metabolism. Maybe as he gets into his upper 20s he could put on a few lbs of muscle (if he's still here). We'll see.
Overall I'm happy with the trade. Losing Staal for nothing vs. losing him for a very solid replacement a good D prospect and a great D prospect... hard to be anything but thankful. I'd say on balance you got the best player in the deal but we got enough assets that Shero will be able to use the added D prospect depth to acquire another F. So in the grand scheme of things the final results of the trade may not be known for us yet; I think it will have consequences beyond the specific players involved.