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Derek Stepan

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Thirty One

Thirty One

Safe is safe.
Dec 28, 2003
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Is Derek Stepan Still Incapable of Performing in the Post-Season?/

I think Stepan's definitely gotten an unfair shake around these parts. It went to the point of declaring weakness at his position the primary reason the Rangers can't compete for the Cup.

Stepan's first 16 games this playoffs: 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points
Toews' first 16 games last playoffs: 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points

Nice to see him performing well.
Click to read more...
 
He's best when he's steady and not over thinking, he just needs to react, he has very good instincts yet sometimes he hesitates. That part of his game has been much improved - the goal in game one and the assist to St Louis in game 2 was a beauty.

Faceoffs, if only he could win a damn faceoff :moose:
 
He's a puck distributor. That is his main strength.

Not that he can't score goals, but more of an opportunistic goal scorer, a 3rd man in or "other side of the play" scorer.

When he is on his game is when he has chemistry with wingers who can break out score and cycle down low. That was his game in WJC, that was his game in UW.

And he's not to shabby in the D zone either.

I don't think he'll ever "will" a team to a win like Messier, Getzlaf, Sundin, or Forsberg could do. But that doesn't mean he isn't an important player on a Cup worthy team. Fans seem to over exagerate and under exagerate the type of player Stepan is and his role on a winning team.
 
x BEUKEBOOM x said:
I don't think he'll ever "will" a team to a win like Messier, Getzlaf, Sundin, or Forsberg could do. But that doesn't mean he isn't an important player on a Cup worthy team. Fans seem to over exagerate and under exagerate the type of player Stepan is and his role on a winning team.
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I don't think Messier, Getzlaf, Sundin or Forsberg ever "willed" a team to win, either. When they played on good teams, they performed well and the teams won.
 
He has been much better with Kreider on his wing. I remember when Kreider first came up people said they wouldn't have chemistry. They work really well together.

His defensive game has been superb and he is making very nice passes. There are times I wish he would shoot more but that is nit-picking.
 
I have a love hate relationship with him. Sometimes he makes some great defensive plays and turns the other teams' transition, or lack thereof in to a Rangers scoring chance, but he also has an uncanny ability to suffocate that same or other scoring chances directly after. Overall he is playing well outside of a few questionable decisions he makes offensively and his foot speed.

He's quietly a big part of the teams' success.
 
He's gotten very unappreciated this post season because of his large absence on the scoresheet. However, we lose against Philly without Stepan. He's done such a good job at keeping top centers quiet, that it's given our depth a chance to run rampant. With Crosby and Malkin getting choked by Stepan's line, PBZ were able to run wild in the offensive zone and steal the series for the Rangers.

I believe he'd be scoring more if not matched up against top players, to be honest.
 
Raspewtin said:
He's gotten very unappreciated this post season because of his large absence on the scoresheet. However, we lose against Philly without Stepan. He's done such a good job at keeping top centers quiet, that it's given our depth a chance to run rampant. With Crosby and Malkin getting choked by Stepan's line, PBZ were able to run wild in the offensive zone and steal the series for the Rangers.

I believe he'd be scoring more if not matched up against top players, to be honest.
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Agreed 10000000000%
 
Stepan was playing poorly but so was McD. Guys turn things around but it doesn't mean he was never playing poorly to begin with. He deserved to be criticized back then. His first period sucked yesterday but he more than made up for it
 
Raspewtin said:
He's gotten very unappreciated this post season because of his large absence on the scoresheet. However, we lose against Philly without Stepan. He's done such a good job at keeping top centers quiet, that it's given our depth a chance to run rampant. With Crosby and Malkin getting choked by Stepan's line, PBZ were able to run wild in the offensive zone and steal the series for the Rangers.

I believe he'd be scoring more if not matched up against top players, to be honest.
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To be fair, he's had some glorious chances anyway that he just blew. How many empty nets did he miss in the Philly series?
 
I'd like to see him have a little more confidence in shooting - maybe it's me, but I feel like he's passed up a decent amount of chances to shoot from the high slot, instead just feeding it to Nash along the boards for a worse look.

He's muffed some big chances on the doorstep, so maybe it's weighing on him, but I've always felt he has a very underrated shot when he gets a good look.
 
He's been very good, but needs to shoot / hit the net when he gets these odd-man rushes.
 
Stepan does on 2 on 1s what they call in football "telegraph passes". Yesterday he was making it so obvious he will pass it to Nash on a 2 on 1 that Markov broke up.
 
He needs to start working out with MSL and/or Kreider. He already a good player but even incremental improvements in strength and speed could make him a great one. Also needs to work on faceoffs.
 
-31- said:
Is Derek Stepan Still Incapable of Performing in the Post-Season?/

I think Stepan's definitely gotten an unfair shake around these parts. It went to the point of declaring weakness at his position the primary reason the Rangers can't compete for the Cup.

Stepan's first 16 games this playoffs: 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points
Toews' first 16 games last playoffs: 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points

Nice to see him performing well.
Click to expand...

Legit ctitique before this PO's started.

Legit critique prior to game 6 against Pitt

6 of his 10 points have come in the last 4 games. 4of his 10 have come in the last 2 games.

6 points in 14 games is not all that good.

Overall the numbers look nice, but I would much rather prefer less streakiness.

3 points in the first 3 games, one point in the next 9, 6 pts in last 4

THAT said, I think that with the way the team is structured, him being streaky like that is not a completely bad thing. As long as the players do not sync up their streaks, he gets a pass from me.
 
Stepan has gone up against Claude Giroux and Sidney Crosby for 14 games before this series.

Giroux and Crosby did not rack up points. While that is largely due to how good our D and Hank is, Stepan is a large part of that.

He's made ONE "bad" play I can remember, and that was botching the clear that led to the garbage goal last night. Besides that, he was one of the only guys helping his line get the puck into MTL's zone after the first period of yesterday's game.

With his 2 point night, he has 10 in 16. Not great, but considering Rick Nash is just starting to score goals, it's not bad.

Stepan ISN'T the ideal #1C because he's not Jon Toews or Crosby. But he's a damn fine #1C and it's ridiculous seeing the hate on him.
 
After 14 games he had 6 points. How much would he had had Nash not been scoreless in 52 shots?

Not that I think removing his best games is a helpful exercise, but anyways.
 
He's been excellent. Getting Kreider back on that line really helped Stepan and Nash. I feel like that's the reason they were maybe underwhelming (offensively, because both have been excellent defensively) in the first round. They work very well together and we see how different one line looks when a very important piece is missing, like with Zucc and Poo without Brass. The effectiveness just isn't the same, though Moore did very well.
 
-31- said:
After 14 games he had 6 points. How much would he had had Nash not been scoreless in 52 shots?

Not that I think removing his best games is a helpful exercise, but anyways.
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Very good point.

Stepan doesn't go 9 games with just 1 point if Nash is burying shots at a 10% clip.

Defensively he's been his usual normal and steady reliable self.
 
shinchanyo said:
Earlier in the PO's. If you think he's been great all the way through and has not played poorly at all not even at the beginning then we simply disagree. No biggie
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He hasn't been great all the way through, but I thought he was great against Philly.
 
-31- said:
He hasn't been great all the way through, but I thought he was great against Philly.
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Although he wasn't putting up points and was getting outplayed in Pitt, I think that'll happen to most players going up against Crosby most of the time they're out on the ice. And i'm sure his good on-puck defense is partly responsible for helping extend Sid's goal-scoring woes.

So far Steps has been great in MTL, and he was very good in Philly. If Nash had even 4 more goals from his 0-for-52 shots skid and Step assisted on half of them, he has 12 points in 16 games and I imagine a lot less people are talking **** about his performance.
 
he's had some very poor games, he's also had some very strong games. its really about him keeping his legs moving and aggressively forechecking. considering how awful he looks on his skates, he's got a tremendous ability to steal the puck in situations you wouldnt expect a player to be susceptible.
 
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