DistantThunderRep
Registered User
- Mar 8, 2018
- 19,899
- 16,759
Nice stats. Of course they look good, he's almost always part of our transition and in consequence a huge part of our scoring (tied 2nd in points on the team). That doesn't mean he isn't prone for bad turnovers and giveaways at times. Which he is. He just creates more offense successfully which compensates for when he fails at it. Just like his offense, his defensive lapses are super "flashy" leading to comments like the one you're "quoting".
Who would have thought that with his most common linemate being Hedman, he would have good underlining stats this year? I for one didn't and definitely needed a chart to explain to me how I was wrong.Imagine looking at a chart and saying with a straight face Shattenkirk is someone who's good at defending in his own zone. Just watch him play a shift in his own end against a top line, he has no ability to contain anyone, no physical presence and beat on nearly every battle. I will say he has a pretty good stick at getting in lanes and deflecting out of danger but you kind of need that when all you do is play passive defense. Offensively, he's great and probably better than advertised but I can easily see why St.louis and other teams just moved on from the guy, there's just not a need for a purely offensive guy who plays big minutes, can't defend and then asks for a large price tag. If you have a Hedman, McDonagh, Cernak etc like we do a Shattenkirk fits as a 4th/5th - imagine if you didn't have that depth and your #1 was injured forcing this guy to log the heavy minutes.
For his price, we're getting extremely good value despite defensive deficiencies but with Sergachev developing and Hedman already a top producer on the blueline we don't need him in the future, we'd benefit more from a more defensively responsible player who'll be cheaper.
Just want to add, that imagine him playing 1:22 of PP time, and upgrading his most common line mate from Brendan Smith last year to Victor freaking Hedman would have a positive effect on his stats. Again, I could not see this coming at all. This is undeniable proof that the charts don't lie and Rutta is our apostle.