Do no other players fall down? I'm confused. I saw Staal fall down last night a few times.
He falls down multiple times per game for no good reason other than the fact that he can't stay up. That's very problematic.
I watched him regularly last year, and was hoping, praying for improvement, because, while I hated the pick at the time, I root for the Rangers and he's Rangers property. I didn't see it - at least not where it most needs to happen. What I saw was him improving incrementally in various aspects of his game and showing flashes that no doubt were the reason he was drafted - but still suffering from fundamental flaws that seriously scare me.
Beacon keeps saying that he'll be up for good in 2015. I need to see him do two things 1) improve his basic balance such that he doesn't wipe out multiple times per game and 2) improve his ability to deal with wingers going wide on the rush before I agree. All the improved play from the point, puckhandling and decision-making (all of which
have improved) in the world don't matter if he can't address those two core issues. I would say he's gotten somewhat better at the second (though it still needs work), but the first remains a problem and I frankly haven't seen much progress on it to date.
By the same token, I'm one of the folks calling for them to bring him up and throw him into the fire. At this point, I think they need to change something up. Get him away from Kenny G and under AV, let him practice with guys like Girardi and McDonagh, see if the improved competition brings out a higher level of play from McI.
I'm not ready to give up on him - yet. But this idea that he's a burgeoning beast gestating in the minors and about to burst free just isn't the case, at least not as far as I've seen.
And it
is starting to get a little late for him.