Is Paul Stastny still a true #1 center?

[Bathcat]

Stastny only excels with great finishers on his line. He can't really carry a line by himself.

 

[PAZ]

Honestly don't think he has ever been a #1 C. A terrific #2 or a 1b at best.
Nonetheless he is still a great player.

Sorry, what?


2006-07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 28 50 78
2007-08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 66 24 47 71
2008-09 Colorado Avalanche NHL 45 11 25 36
2009-10 Colorado Avalanche NHL 81 20 59 79

Explain how those numbers aren't of a #1 C.

 

[ponder]

Guys currently in the 2C position, who I'd rate higher than Stastny:

Malkin
Bergeron
Zetterberg
Jeff Carter
Tyler Johnson
Kesler
Spezza
Whichever of Couture/Pavelski/Thornton you consider the 2C

Then there are some arguable ones like Turris, ROR, etc.

He's a high end 2C IMO, though I'm not quite sure I'd call him an elite 2C. Strong defence and all around play, smart offence, but he definitely lacks that dynamic 1-on-1 ability that I like to see from 1st line centres. His 70+ point seasons were a long time ago, he's been a 45-60 point guy for the past 5 seasons (pro-rating 12/13), which is still very good, but let's not pretend he's elite offensively.

 

[Lord Helix]

Stastny only excels with great finishers on his line. He can't really carry a line by himself.

Except the fact that he struggled to find chemistry with the likes of Tarasenko and Schwartz...Yet to the eye, he did pretty well with Berglund and Jaskin. So, as always, chemistry reigns supreme.

 

[Bathcat]

Except the fact that he struggled to find chemistry with the likes of Tarasenko and Schwartz...Yet to the eye, he did pretty well with Berglund and Jaskin. So, as always, chemistry reigns supreme.

Okay, yes, that's a factor. There's also the fact Tarasenko doesn't need a great playmaker to excel. He has enormous individual talent and plays a north-south game. Same reason Kessel will always (usually) produce even without a great centre. Putting someone like Hull on Stastny's line would really make him shine.

 

[boredmale]

Patrice Bergeron, no one's gonna argue against him.

I would

I am not one who buys into the idea there is exactly 30(not 29 or 31) #1 centers.

When I am making a list of true #1 centers here is my list(in no particular order)

Crosby
Malkin
Tavares
Backstrom
Seguin
Sedin
Giroux
Stamkos
Getzlaf
Toews
Datsyuk
Kopitar

Borderline

Thornton
Spezza
Johnson(let's see if he can produce like this next season)
Johansen(probably will be bumped up next season)
Couture


I might have forgotten 1 or 2 guys but that is basically it

 

[boredmale]

Sorry, what?

2006-07 Colorado Avalanche NHL 82 28 50 78
2007-08 Colorado Avalanche NHL 66 24 47 71
2009-10 Colorado Avalanche NHL 81 20 59 79

Explain how those numbers aren't of a #1 C.

In 2014/15 those number might make him a #1 center but in 2006/07 he was 30th in scoring with those numbers, in 2007/2008 he was 14th in Points Per Game and 2009/10 he was 18th in scoring but if you went by points per game he would have finished lower.

 

[Miri]

He would have IMO posted higher numbers if stayed in Colorado playing with Landeskog and MacKinnon/Tanguay as his wingers, rather than whoever he played at STL with.

That said, he is great 2nd line centre/1b centre and i really would like to have him back. 7 millions might look a lot, but its the reality these days. Is the maximum value of any player contract not set at 20 percent of the overall cap of the team BTW? At 70 millions thats 14 millions obviously and you can bet on it the salaries will be rising until that number is saturated...

 

[LateFirstRounder]

I'd say he's a guy who could play 1C when someone gets injured, but he's a second-liner normally.

 

[tony d]

Yes he is, albeit at the lower end.

 

[CanadienShark]

Going into this year, he was expected to be a 1B type. I think Lehtera stole his anticipated role. From what I know, he wasn't awful. Slightly overpaid, as he has been his entire career, but the guy isn't awful. Very reliable defensively, good offensive game. No, he won't dominate without a star winger, but he's a guy you can count on imo. His career average is something like 67 points, I think.

 

[OilTastic]

i don't even know why the Blues signed this guy, they have plenty of offense already. they should have spent the money on a real goalie to go with Jake Allen.

 

[CanadienShark]

I would

I am not one who buys into the idea there is exactly 30(not 29 or 31) #1 centers.

When I am making a list of true #1 centers here is my list(in no particular order)

Crosby
Malkin
Tavares
Backstrom
Seguin
Sedin
Giroux
Stamkos
Getzlaf
Toews
Datsyuk
Kopitar

Borderline

Thornton
Spezza
Johnson(let's see if he can produce like this next season)
Johansen(probably will be bumped up next season)
Couture


I might have forgotten 1 or 2 guys but that is basically it

Seriously? Every single one of those guys is a #1, no questions asked. Not up for debate, really. I don't mean to insult you personally, but certain people including you just have a completely arbitrary and seemingly nonsensical criteria for what a #1C is. A number one centre is a top 30 centre. That's a rigid definition that makes sense. There are 30 teams, each has a top centre, a 2nd line centre, 3rd line and a 4th line. Split the centres in the league up, and there you have it. You can try to quantify the gaps between #1 centres with words like "elite" or "star," so I'm not saying Crosby = Stepan. What I am saying though is that both are #1 centres.

Dunno why I chose Stepan, he was just the first guy to spring to mind that's not an elite #1, but is clearly a #1.

 

[cgf]

Because it shouldn't be a question if he truly was ever one?

Sidney Crosby is a true #1 center, of course.
Anze Kopitar, no question.
Patrice Bergeron, no one's gonna argue against him.
Paul Stastny? not gonna get a definitive answer, so closer to no.

That seems somewhat odd. So just because a player isn't unanimously viewed as 1c they can't be a 1c? Especially since most of the complaints against him being a 1c are that his assist tallies have dropped due to lesser wingers than he had when he was cracking 70.

In 2014/15 those number might make him a #1 center but in 2006/07 he was 30th in scoring with those numbers, in 2007/2008 he was 14th in Points Per Game and 2009/10 he was 18th in scoring but if you went by points per game he would have finished lower.

Which would suggest he was a #1 C, no?

 

[cgf]

i don't even know why the Blues signed this guy, they have plenty of offense already. they should have spent the money on a real goalie to go with Jake Allen.

Did we watch a different playoff series? Cause I would've thought that if Blues have plenty of offense they might've been able to score a goal or two.

 

[Oberyn]

Did we watch a different playoff series? Cause I would've thought that if Blues have plenty of offense they might've been able to score a goal or two.

We do have plenty of offense. They just don't do anything in the playoffs.

As for the thread, Stastny struggled to find chemistry this season with our wingers for whatever reason. Schwartz and Tarasenko did not work with him, but Berglund and Jaskin did. A line combination that was successful at the end of the season was Schwartz-Stastny-Oshie, but that got broken up in the playoffs.

I think if Fabbri makes the team next year, he could be a good fit with Stastny. We're also anticipating some core players being moved, so maybe the players that they get traded for end up clicking with Stastny. No reason to write him off just yet, he is overpaid for sure but that's the nature of UFA.

 

[JetsHomer]

Lemme check my calendar, is it still 2010?

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

As for the thread, Stastny struggled to find chemistry this season with our wingers for whatever reason. Schwartz and Tarasenko did not work with him, but Berglund and Jaskin did. A line combination that was successful at the end of the season was Schwartz-Stastny-Oshie, but that got broken up in the playoffs.

Stastny has always done best with a PWF/Puck-hound + Sniper. That's the winning combo. Schwartz + Tarasenko makes no sense in that context, give him Tarasenko and Oshie or Backes and things might be different over more than a couple game stretch.

 

[Lord Helix]

Stastny has always done best with a PWF/Puck-hound + Sniper. That's the winning combo. Schwartz + Tarasenko makes no sense in that context, give him Tarasenko and Oshie or Backes and things might be different over more than a couple game stretch.

Schwartz, while obviously not a power forward, is pretty much the perfect example of a puck hound. And we all know what Tarasenko is.

 

[cgf]

I may be wrong here, but Schwartz seems to like the puck on his stick, the PWFs pauly's worked well with did their work off of the puck.

 

[Bee Sheriff]

That seems somewhat odd. So just because a player isn't unanimously viewed as 1c they can't be a 1c? Especially since most of the complaints against him being a 1c are that his assist tallies have dropped due to lesser wingers than he had when he was cracking 70.

Joe Thornton turned Jonathan Cheechoo into a 50 goal scorer

 

[cgf]

Joe Thornton turned Jonathan Cheechoo into a 50 goal scorer

In a higher scoring league, plus Jumbo is a better playmaker than Staz; but Pauly almost turned Stewart (who hasn't even hit 20 since leaving) into a 30 goal scorer. Not as impressive but it's not like Walnuts doesn't turn competent finishers into better goal scorers to.

Cheechoo fell off insanely fast, but it's not like he was post-knee-injury Davie Jones, or Kevin Porter, when he was converting all of those assist Jumbo fed him. If Jones and some of the other bums Paul played with in colorado could've finished like Cheechoo used to, Staz would be thought of very differently.

 

[TOML]

Hasn't been for years.

 

[Celtic Note]

Stastny has always done best with a PWF/Puck-hound + Sniper. That's the winning combo. Schwartz + Tarasenko makes no sense in that context, give him Tarasenko and Oshie or Backes and things might be different over more than a couple game stretch.

Schwartz is a puck hound. Tarasenko is a sniper.
So, I don't follow.

 

[HockeyFan100]

Nope.