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Derek Stepan

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Bleed Ranger Blue said:
Any way we can duplicate that processor and implant it into Kreider's head?
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I like to think he's a late bloomer.

David Backes has always been my comparison. Backes took 4 or 5 years after his draft to become a player. Yeah Backes is having an off year, but his off year would be a huge improvement for CK.
 
Bluenote13 said:
I like to think he's a late bloomer.

David Backes has always been my comparison. Backes took 4 or 5 years after his draft to become a player. Yeah Backes is having an off year, but his off year would be a huge improvement for CK.
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I like to think that as well. I see a comparison but Backes plays with an edge I have never seen at any level from Kreider. Maybe next year Kreider will do the "David Backes Canadian Olympic team fight tour" and take off from there.
 
Fitzy said:
At this point, I would consider buying out Richards this offseason rather than next if it meant getting Stepan locked up.

Still, I think they keep Richards on the extra year.
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I am down with buying richards out, but youd deff have to address our scoring needs then.. Bring in Horton, even Jagr/Iginla on a short term deal and then 14' go big for Malkin, Stansy (if price is right) but I wouldn't mind looking into Pavs as our 2c..

Nash-Stepan-Callahan
Clowe-Pavs-Horton in 14' ( Im obv just speculating) but I think richards will be here next year for sure, whcih iam ok with, after that he has to be gone bc everyone is either an RFA/UFA in 14' and we need his money to pay them..

Its really going to be interesting how slats handle this.. 2-3yr deal Matt Duechane/logan coutier type deal 2.75- 3.5m or will his agent demand ROR $$$ (deff deserves) or will slats just lock him in at 4-4.5m long term on 4-6yr deal.. should be interesting to stay the least.. I rather sign him long term on 5-6yr deal lower cap buy UFA years.. so its easier to keep all our RFAs long term.. McD, DZ, and hags shouldnt be to bad..

if we didn't sign staal to the deal he would easily be getting over 4.5m-5m right now.. soo its wiser long term deal for certain RFAs..

but i see possibly slats first long term deal with stepan and obv Mcd will get staal type treatment which is good..
 
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N9Y4R said:
I like to think that as well. I see a comparison but Backes plays with an edge I have never seen at any level from Kreider. Maybe next year Kreider will do the "David Backes Canadian Olympic team fight tour" and take off from there.
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I think we saw some of it in last years playoffs. But I really don't say he's exactly Backes, just a power forward like Backes who had to be brought along. In fact, you will rarely ever read my posts comparing two players exactly, I don't think that ever applies to hockey players. There's so much variation in the makeup of a player(smarts, skating, hitting, stickhandling, tenacity, versatility, character,etc) by the time he gets to the Pro game he'd be a mix of all these or he wouldn't be there at all.
 
Hang on to Richards for 2013-2014. Even with the emergence of Stepan, this team needs all the center help it can get. With Gaborik's departure, they should be OK cap-wise.

Tell Richards that next season is make or break for him -- knowing full well he'll be bought out regardless in 2014 even if he wins the Hart trophy
 
Bluenote13 said:
Absolutely. This is the guy we remember from the 2010 WJC's.
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The only resemblance to the guy from the WJC is that he again looks like a man among boys. Otherwise, today's Step is a million times better. The guy at the WJC was slow, not a good shooter and not that strong physically. This guy today is an all-around player who makes NHLers look stupid.
 
Beacon said:
The only resemblance to the guy from the WJC is that he again looks like a man among boys. Otherwise, today's Step is a million times better. The guy at the WJC was slow, not a good shooter and not that strong physically. This guy today is an all-around player who makes NHLers look stupid.
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A million times better, yes, but he's now playing like he did in that WJC that made us all so hopeful for him as a prospect. His first season here was great, but it looked like he was focusing more on acclimating to the NHL than asserting himself- which is perfectly fair, and I was pleased to see his goalscoring game develop as well.

Last year he expanded upon that, but was still growing.

This year he's dynamic everytime he's on the ice. He does everything except fight. That's exactly what we saw from him when he was the best player in the WJC that year.

He can kill you in so many different ways. Have some offense going? Not anymore, Stepan just broke it up. Have an elite d-man in his way? No problem, he'll just dish it off and grab the assist instead of the goal. Play the pass on the two on one? Fine, he'll just snipe it past you.

If what we've gotten this season from Stepan is the real Stepan, he'll be a near PPG franchise player starting as early as next year.
 
Beacon said:
The only resemblance to the guy from the WJC is that he again looks like a man among boys. Otherwise, today's Step is a million times better. The guy at the WJC was slow, not a good shooter and not that strong physically. This guy today is an all-around player who makes NHLers look stupid.
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He dominated. He's dominating now.

What I said had nothing to do with his rate of skill, you implied that;)
 
BlueshirtBlitz said:
A million times better, yes, but he's now playing like he did in that WJC that made us all so hopeful for him as a prospect. His first season here was great, but it looked like he was focusing more on acclimating to the NHL than asserting himself- which is perfectly fair, and I was pleased to see his goalscoring game develop as well.

Last year he expanded upon that, but was still growing.

This year he's dynamic everytime he's on the ice. He does everything except fight. That's exactly what we saw from him when he was the best player in the WJC that year.

He can kill you in so many different ways. Have some offense going? Not anymore, Stepan just broke it up. Have an elite d-man in his way? No problem, he'll just dish it off and grab the assist instead of the goal. Play the pass on the two on one? Fine, he'll just snipe it past you.

If what we've gotten this season from Stepan is the real Stepan, he'll be a near PPG franchise player starting as early as next year.
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people forget and never realized stepan's skill.. center is one of the hardest positions to learn in NHL.. hes not only all offense but a dynamite 2 way player... and in that WJC he dominated and won/lead team USA to gold.. but people forget he led that tourn with 14points.. over the likes of Carlson, Eberle, taylor Hall, D'Amigo, Schroader etc..(spelling sorry) dudes got skill always had.. this shouldnt be a surprise to anyone who truely knows our players..
 
BroadwayBlues said:
Looks like he's improved his shot.
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Stepan has always had that shot... I remember last season people were saying talking about Stepan in his player thread and they were saying how he's got great vision and passing ability but his shot was lacking... I didn't agree. I posted that I thought he had a great snap-shot but just hasn't really used it for whatever reason.

Nowadays it's pretty rare for young hockey players (especially forwards) to not possess great snap-shots by the junior level. It's something they tend to focus on a lot.
 
The original poster said Stepan has to pick up his play for this team to be successful. Well, I think that was correct. Where the thread went wrong was people saying he should be traded, that he's not a good player. Those are the reactionary fans everyone should be ignoring instead of giving them any attention.

Having said that, Stepan has looked great, 2nd best forward after Nash. Now that he's playing well the expectations are starting to rise, some are speaking of 40 goal seasons. We gotta still keep perspective, this is one shortened season out of many in his future.
 
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