But playing defense is.
Plekanec isnt super good on faceoff either. Galchenyuk(so far) isnt either.
Should we go with Halpern, White, Dumont and Nokelainen ?
And I think we can safely assume that Eller is the better man at faceoffs.
Halpern>>Eller,DD and even Plekanec on FO.
I'd argue based on career stats DD is better than Eller at faceoffs(equal or better).
So, I don't get it. I'm purposely going in this circle with you. I'm hoping you get the message.
Eller has easily earned a top 9 role on the team. He can play shutdown, he can be a support offensive player and all that, but why C? If his FO ability is less than ideal, why SHUTDOWN C? Why get Halpern when Eller can take those all important faceoffs? There's a reason.
Eller can play defense on wing and Desharnais can play offensive on wing too. At end of the day though, given our options, DD is the better faceoff man based on career. Still....that isn't saying much. That's why we needed a guy like Halpern. I honestly wouldn't mind a better shutdown guy. We can use a Kelly type of player. He has 60.6%. hard to argue those results.