Confirmed with Link: Canes sign Lee Stempniak - 2 years, 2.5 per

[DaveG]

Click to read more...

 

[Brock Anton]

Based on what's been thrown around today, we could do much worse.

 

[A Star is Burns]

Might be hard to quite match his production from last year, but he's been fairly productive for quite a while now. And he's a right shot. If he actually is a 50 point player again, at that price, quite a bargain.

 

[GoldiFox]

Low-risk due to salary. Potential high reward with how he produced last year. Savvy pickup.

 

[TheOllieC]

He could score 10-15 points fewer than last season and it still would be fine.

Nice low risk solid reward signing.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

I can dig it.

 

[Novacane]

Expansion draft fodder if he doesn't work out too. Perfect deal

 

[Roboturner913]

Good move. I doubt he scores 50 again but he seems to be good for 15-20 goals most years. Can expose him if we need to, or flip him at the deadline.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Nice! He's always been an underrated point producer.

 

[Carolinas Identity*]

I like it

 

[DaleCooper]

I am pleased.

 

[TheOllieC]

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

Great! Nice veteran in the room too. Stealth move by RF.

 

[DaleCooper]

We are his 10th NHL team. That's quite a tour of the league.

 

[Finnish Jerk Train]

Could be a decent middle six guy. There's little downside, and he could theoretically put up 50 points, so I can't complain.

He seems to run hot and cold, but the dude's been traded at each of the last three TDLs and signed with a new team each of the last three summers. Kinda hard to know what he can do when he packs his bags as soon as he gets used to a new team's system. It'll be interesting to see what he does here.

 

[Ole Gil]

3 very different levels of production in that chart. 50 points looks like the outlier, historically.

 

[geehaad]

Does NJ play a style similar to Peters' system?

Stempniak did well in that system last year...

 

[DaveG]

Does NJ play a style similar to Peters' system?

Stempniak did well in that system last year...

Yeah fairly similar. Very similar in terms of being defense oriented and having an extremely low SA/G.

 

[Cane mutiny]

I love this deal. Was hoping for Stempniack, and RF did his job. Thx Ron!

 

[Discipline Daddy]

Absolutely love this deal. Honestly, I had Lee Stempniak as my #1 target given our typical UFA moves. I was very upset when i read that he had signed back in NJ. I'm surprised someone didn't out-bid us, but I'm sure he wasn't the target for most teams and fell under the radar a bit. $2.5M is a steal if he tops 30 points and it's ridiculous if he can get to 50 again. Low risk here. What concerns me is that defensive play in his graphic. I have no idea how skilled Stempniak is in his defensive play.

 

[Thehair17]

Very happy about this, was the guy I was hoping we'd go after.

 

[NotOpie]

Took a quick look at his advanced stats and he was an absolute possession nightmare with NJ but turned those numbers around considerably with Boston. Still I think he slots in better on Skinner and Rask's line than on Jordan's line.

 

[DaveG]

Took a quick look at his advanced stats and he was an absolute possession nightmare with NJ but turned those numbers around considerably with Boston. Still I think he slots in better on Skinner and Rask's line than on Jordan's line.

Yeah I would NOT want him on the Staal line, that line generated its effectiveness by possession and just being otherwise impossible to knock off the puck when they got it. I think I'd rather have Stalberg there then Stempniak.

Stempniak as the 3rd wheel for Skinner-Rask or as the veteran presence for Aho-Lindholm makes a lot more sense to me.

 

[geehaad]

If he's as good at dishing it as his points::assists ratio shows, put him with Skinner. I think there will be plenty of distribution on the Lindholm line.

 

[Vagrant]

Trying to decide where Stempniak fits into your lineup has been the folly of several teams. He's a swiss army knife. He'll go where he's needed and probably produce from there.

Watching his goals from last season, almost every goal he scored was a result of him driving the net with his stick on the ice, using his speed to create partial 2-on-1's, and tapping home rebounds.

Seriously, just watch: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hlp=8470740

I don't think he scores a goal from more than five feet away from the tender. I think putting him with Lindholm or Aho might be a really good idea. Other than that, I don't know if a bad fit exists for him. He's played with so many guys in so many systems.