Does anyone really know if we'll be able to afford him right now or not though? That depends on what other contracts we hand out and how other players perform (and what happens with guys like McDonald, Schwartz, etc). Now you may be right and certainly you can make a legit case for your claim, but there are a lot of variables here.
If Stewart can get back to scoring and showing good effort, he is a fine fit for our team. There seems to be a misconception that you have to be a great two-way player to stick on our roster, but I really don't care if Stewart never becomes a defensive stalwart. We have plenty of other guys that can fill that role and kill penalties. All we need Stewart to do is score, work hard and use his big body for things he should be doing (going to the front of the net, battling along the boards, providing toughness). If he does that, he fills a role that nobody else on the team really does except for Backes. If we do end up trading Stewart I'd like to replace him with a similar type of player and I assume we would, because there's a reason Armstrong targeted Stewart in the first place.
Either way I just hope to see Stewart do well because I think when he's on his game he adds a nice element to our team.
