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