I looked into some numbers and last season Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Tatar, Franzen and Nyquist all had more hits than Sheahan. Desipite his size, Riley has never been a physical player and this dates back to his college days.
That said, as a whole, I still like his game. Its frustrating that fans boil everything down to numbers. "he doesn't hit enough" or " he isnt producing enough".
Didn't we just go through this in the Abdelkader thread? There are ways to contribute that don't appear on the box score. He does a lot of little things that go unnoticed on these boards. We all know he is pretty good along the boards. However, his size and defensive accumen open up a lot of opportunities for the new euro twins.
Blashill, "He allows those guys to be creative offensively because they know they have him above," Blashill said. "He is an extremely good defensive player. He is also the net-front presence. He has done a a pretty good job on face-offs. And he has got an ability to make plays in smart areas. So they have really all three been able to be a real good o-zone line."
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2015/12/08/detroit-red-wings-lines/77011072/
Would more physicallity and production be nice? Of course. But its not the be all and end all when evaluating guys like Sheahan or Abdelkader.