He was on the 3rd line when traded yes, but that is with Drouin on the 4th line and Namestnikov in the AHL. I mean that going forward there's 10 guys currently on the team, that I personally see playing ahead of him in the top 9
I like Connolly but don't think he fit the mold of what Yzerman wants which seems to be Skating,IQ,Compete
He's lacking in all 3 of those although he was putting in a real good effort that last month
He's got the great shot but it only seemed to happen on broken plays. I think that why he fit in well with 2 big physical players like Morrow and Boyle
Namestnikov should still be in the A, he's been on a good run but playing 20+ and carrying the Crunch is better then his role here right now. Drouin could've flipped spots with Paquette.
There's too many forwards who are inconsistent on team, Paquette isn't ready for a full time top 9 job to me as he goes long stretches without scoring. Killorn does score enough with his minutes, Drouin is coming on but still has rough patches. Connolly was scoring goals at a high rate per 60, he's more reliable then what we have.
His skating is fine, he's no Drouin or Johnson but is above Paquette and probably Killorn. IQ is a bit iffy but not as big a deal as some make it, his compete level was becoming one of the better ones on the team. We had many games where he was one of few who showed up, we could also use his physical play.
I still haven't heard a good reason to trade him when they did. Sure his value was up but if he kept his scoring pace he pots 20, a young 20 goal scorer can get two 2nd's at the draft.