crossicepass
Registered User
- Sep 7, 2008
- 609
- 99
Eric Staal in Minnesota
- Thread starter crossicepass
- Start date
FlamesFan18
Frank the Tank
Baemon Severson*
N1CO!!!
I would say he was our best forward for the first 15 games or so. Slowed down a little since then, but still been a solid player for sure. Excellent signing... as of now at least. Only a three year deal, and may or may not be protected in the expansion draft... tbd.
PensBandwagonerNo272*
Forgot About Sid
- Sep 10, 2012
- 12,530
- 9
gwh
Registered User
- Mar 4, 2013
- 3,688
- 622
Only a bloody idiot would play him as winger. Way too slow for other than 3rd forward checking.
Liferleafer
TSN Scrum Lurker
- Feb 9, 2011
- 39,848
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Guerzy
I'm a fricken baby
- Jan 16, 2005
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Dr Jan Itor
Registered User
Parise
Koivu
Pominville
Staal
Coyle
Nino
Granlund
Suter
Spurgeon
Brodin
Dubnyk
Add Haula/Zucker and remove Pominville if he can be talked into waiving or is bought out.
It's too early to tell. Koivu, Parise, Pominville all have to be, Coyle will, Nino should. That leaves two more of Staal, Granlund, Haula, Zucker. Totally up in the air.
Then Suter and.... big question mark. We might have to shed some salary here, so I'm guessing Scandella won't be protected. Then the question is which two of Brodin, Spurgeon, Dumba. I'm glad I don't have to make that call.
My personal list would probably match Dr's above.
WreckItRask
Registered User
Zucker is gone if they don't protect him. Vegas kid, young, fast...would make way too much sense. I'm not sure how Granlund isn't a must keep based on how far his game has progressed this year...he's the best player on the ice for long stretches so far this year. Just a totally different player than the past few years. Durability is always a concern for him.
Back on topic, Staal has been really good for most of the year. He's such a pro. Good in all three zones, strong on puck battles. I think people sometimes underestimate how hard it is to perform as a trade deadline rental for marquee players. The best deadline pickups are usually the guys that are filling a specific role (Penalty killing 3rd liner, 2nd pairing D man, etc.). Bringing in a guy and expecting him to find instant chemistry to produce offense is always a gamble. I don't think it's always fair to write guys off that struggle as rentals.
The team was a mess, but he also never developed any chemistry with anyone. That being said, he was also horribly slow and seemed out of gas every night.
Glad he's doing well in Minny, but time is going to tell with this one.
TheOllieC
cajun filet
Absolutely no surprise to me whatsoever. Think I even said so in the signing thread. Got stale in Carolina and was just a bad fit in NY.
KrisLetAngry
MrJukeBoy
He's playing and producing like a #1C so far. Doesn't hurt him that he has two big young bucks on his line who are playing some of the best hockey of their careers( Nino and COyle) that are doing their fair share of the work and more.
silverfish
got perma'd
Never had a set role, and when he finally got one, it was with the wrong wingers. He played around 3 games with Stalberg and Lindberg and they were dominant. AV being AV, never reunited that line after that.
It was a good signing in July, and it's still a good signing, and I imagine it will continue to be a good signing.
He was banged up for most of the time and he never got to gel with any linemates.
Also usually tougher to get into a new team when you get traded mid season.
Roboturner913
Registered User
- Jul 3, 2012
- 25,853
- 55,526
Shocking to see how well he has played and his effort level. As a Carolina fan I never had any ill will for him but I'm feeling pretty ripped off. Wish he had played this hard at any point in the last 2 seasons.
I get the impression that he was just worn out being "THE" guy. I mean, he doesn't even have a letter with us. He can just show up, play hockey, and go home.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but at least the outside impression is that he had been the face of that team for a while, now. With us, he's been very effective, but he's almost never going to be the guy anyone goes to to get a quote for twitter or the paper or whatever.
He's been fun to watch, and I think he's enjoying proving the doubters wrong. I'm skeptical that he's going to end up with some monster 30+/40+ season, but it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up around ~20 goals and 55ish points. Can't argue with that for the money and term.
Really good signing for Minnesota, at a nice price and length. Would have loved to see him produce at that rate and with that contract with the canes this year, but it was pretty obvious that ship had sailed. Wish him nothing but the best though
I figured things had just gone stale in Carolina and he'd bounce back in New York. Obviously he was used poorly, on top of things typically being hard for a deadline acquisition to fit in partway through the year, but his numbers were still worrying that he might be on a steep decline. I thought he might end up going the LeCavalier route after signing with a new team. Glad he's back to looking like a top line player, even if he's not back to prime level.
tony d
Registered User
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