Great two way game, 60-65 point player, good on faceoffs, never takes penalties (let along bad ones), high IQ, etc. He's still only 23 years old.
I would rather have him than overpaying Stastny, trading for a 30 plus year old Spezza, etc.
id like to agian say that all these replies are based on mostly stat watching and maybe 10 games ive seen him play in the past 2 years.
2-way game...yet he's been a minus player each of the last 4 consecutive seasons. its good to see that he kills penalties though..i woulda flipped my lid over this 2-way argument if he didnt at least do that.
60-65 point player. I hate that argument. how is a guy who has hit 60+ points once in his career a 60 point player? hes a 45 point player per 82 games played for his career. his last 3 seasons per 82 games played are something like 65, 56, 55
To me, that makes him more of a 55-60 point player who clearly had a great year playing with some insane level of talent. he goes from being Behind Mackinnon, Stastny, and Duchene (and having to play on the wing) to being the #1 center...will his numbers go up? id be doubtful..but you never know.
51.8% on faceoffs. its a good number. i think the faceoff argument is very overused. the difference between being 52% and 48% is how many faceoffs won or lost in a game? 1? 2?
its an overrated stat imho.
regarding IQ, i'll have to take your word for it, ive never been particularly enamored with his play.
regarding penalty minutes. i guess thats a good thing. i mean not taking penalties can also be a sign of not being particularly engaged in the play.
in the small sample size that ive watched that team ive almost always thought to myself after the game how completely amazed i was taht i didnt even notice when ROR played a shift. for a supposed #1 center about to make 6.5 mil a year, thats not a good thing.
but again, you guys may know him better than i do.
if it were me, id rather keep staal than to trade him for ROR.
