If you look at this through the lens of HC Eakins and his favoritism to Steel, then you can kinda understand what that Stephens' info is all about. Eakins wants to limit Steel's scope to be a more efficient NHL player. That's good on Eakins to correct a young player.
Here's the kicker, Steel is and has been waiver eligible this season. We have other centers in Grant, Backes, or Carrick that can slot into that 3C role so that Steel can continue his development down in the AHL. Last year, Steel looked overwhelmed, but we didn't have enough talent to push him down to the AHL. This year, Steel started to struggle early into the season along with Terry, Comtois, and Lundestrom. Lundy got sent down. Terry got benched more often than Steel. Comtois is a streaky scorer who goes invisible often, but he's still one of the Ducks better scoring threats. With Eakins acknowledging Steel's continued struggle, Eakins still keeps him up at the NHL level. Instead of honing his puck possession skills down in the AHL as well as improving his defense to where Steel's confidence gets some boost with actual production, Eakins continues to keep a struggling Steel at the NHL level.
Isac Lundestrom participated with Timra in Hockey Allsvenkan's (HA) pre-season and 12 regular season games. Lundy posted up 11 points (5g, 6a) in 12 games. HA is the second tier for hockey in Sweden. Then Lundy gets recalled and starts three NHL games as a winger. That's very odd because he played 1C with Timra and was good at it. Because Lundy did not produce at wing, playing with Getz, Lundy was sent down to the AHL. Isac participated in the AHL pre-season and somehow coach Dineen helped Lundy's mentality. Lundy looked very good at wing as he traversed the ice with ease and a nose for the net. The games Isac participated in were pre-season games, thus no Elite Prospects recording. Isac was recalled after his blossoming AHL stint, still at wing. Lundy looked good at wing in his first game back, but then due to center issues, Isac was placed back at center and he has become the Ducks' default 1c.
I bring up Lundy because he improved his game at a lower level of hockey, was told to move to wing, and then sent down to the AHL. With Steel, we keep inserting him into the lineup despite his constant struggles. When Carrick was brought up for a couple of games, the team played a bit better and had bite. I thought Carrick earned the promotion to stay at the NHL level and made a path for Steel to go down to the AHL. Carrick should be the expectations for Steel to become.
Eakins may have an overinflated talent review on Steel ( Zegras to burn his ELC; Shatty as a 1st pairing D; Larsson back on the ice). I don't have a problem converting Steel into a grinder because at least the Ducks are getting something than nothing from a first rounder. Yet, I do have a problem when Steel is waiver eligible because that means Steel is still young and learning curve is taking a bit longer. Why give up on Steel when he's still young and waiver eligible? Why not convert him to wing now that Lundestrom has re-established himself back at center? Steel's situation is odd when we have another center prospect in Lundy that was moved around quite a bit, regardless of this recent Stephens reporting.