Marc Staal

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

With all the love for Rick Nash and Carl Hagelin, I though Staal deserved his own "OMG HE'S SO AWESOME" thread.

Staal is tied for 4th on this team in points, and is on pace for 46 points over an 82 game schedule. He's also been, as we can all see, a stalwart on defense. People haven't really been talking about him, it's mostly been "yeah, Staal is good". No one talks about the guy, but he's an amazing defenseman.

Still can't believe we have McDonagh and Staal on the same team. AND Girardi.

Click to read more...

 

[SixGoalieSystem]

Looking like the pre-concussion Staal and back to probably being our best defenseman again.

 

[JESSEWENEEDTOCOOK]

Looking like the pre-concussion Staal and back to probably being our best defenseman again.

Still McD.

But Staal is our 2nd best by far. Girardi is still awesome, though, just not as awesome as Staal

 

[Machinehead]

Nice to see him finally use his offensive talent that he always showed flashes of.

 

[Kakko]

I will stick by my belief that he is our best defender and a top-10 defenseman in the league

 

[Kershaw]

His defense has been suspect at best and he is still prone to screening Hank and terrible turnovers. His team on ice sh% is also unsustainable based on his career pedigree. I don't think he is at pre-concussion level yet.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

His defense has been suspect at best and he is still prone to screening Hank and terrible turnovers. His team on ice sh% is also unsustainable based on his career pedigree. I don't think he is at pre-concussion level yet.

Kershaw sees people praise a Rangers. Kershaw to the rescue. No positive talk on this board when Kershaw is around.

I will agree on one thing, he'll never be our best D-men as long as he has his ridiculous turnovers. That Islanders lost is largely on him.

 

[nyr33]

I will stick by my belief that he is our best defender and a top-10 defenseman in the league

i agree with this. love staal

 

[SnowblindNYR]

lost=loss

 

[NYR Sting]

Staal has played very well this season. His physicality is starting to return. He's not a flashy player, so he goes unnoticed sometimes, but he just doesn't take dumb risks very often. His confidence with the puck is almost where it was before his injury, too.

 

[RempireStateBuilding]

Kershaw sees people praise a Rangers. Kershaw to the rescue. No positive talk on this board when Kershaw is around.

I will agree on one thing, he'll never be our best D-men as long as he has his ridiculous turnovers. That Islanders lost is largely on him.

Off-topic, but this is why I'll never understand why people are so in love with Girardi.

On-topic, Staal and McDonagh are our 1A and 1B, on any given night it's tough to pick a better one. Staal may not be in perfect form, but he'll get there sooner rather than later.

 

[Draft Guru]

His defense has been suspect at best and he is still prone to screening Hank and terrible turnovers. His team on ice sh% is also unsustainable based on his career pedigree. I don't think he is at pre-concussion level yet.

....are we watching the same player?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

....are we watching the same player?

The only good player on the Rangers according to Kershaw is Brian Boyle.

 

[Hi ImHFNYR]

2 years left after this one right? Phenomenal!

 

[The Gloaming]

2 years left after this one right? Phenomenal!

It really is a great contract. 5 years of prime Staal for under 4 million? Beautiful.

 

[zuckera1]

My Dad and I have watched Staal and the Rangers for years, and I'm comfortable saying he may be the most overrated player on the team next to Gaborik. I don't understand why this guy gets a pass, he makes some great plays defensively...but then makes some awful mistakes that cost the team. He's inconsistent. Without his brothers being much better than he is, Marc Staal would not receive as much credit as he receives from the NHL and people on this board.

I'd take McD and Girardi over him any day of the week, no question about it.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Staal is better then McDonagh. People will continue to think the opposite for whatever reason but staal is better defensively and while I think mcdonaghs offensive skills are superior the numbers speak for themself.

Before his concussion he was beginning to strongly resemble pronger in the defensive zone. Give it a few more months

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Staal is better then McDonagh. People will continue to think the opposite for whatever reason but staal is better defensively and while I think mcdonaghs offensive skills are superior the numbers speak for themself.

Before his concussion he was beginning to strongly resemble pronger in the defensive zone. Give it a few more months

He's too turnover prone to be better than McDonagh defensively. I don't care how many great chances he stops if his turnovers lead to glorious chances against that lead to goals.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

He's too turnover prone to be better than McDonagh defensively. I don't care how many great chances he stops if his turnovers lead to glorious chances against that lead to goals.

He turns the puck over more then McDonagh but he's not turnover prone. He's also better as a shutdown defenseman due to his size and reach. For a point of reference watch McDonagh go at ovechkin physically compared to staal. His size and reach gives him the ability to completely dominate.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

He turns the puck over more then McDonagh but he's not turnover prone. He's also better as a shutdown defenseman due to his size and reach. For a point of reference watch McDonagh go at ovechkin physically compared to staal. His size and reach gives him the ability to completely dominate.

I'm not sure Staal being a better matchup for Ovie due to his physical gifts is proof that overall he's better defensively than McD.

 

[SML]

My Dad and I have watched Staal and the Rangers for years, and I'm comfortable saying he may be the most overrated player on the team next to Gaborik. I don't understand why this guy gets a pass, he makes some great plays defensively...but then makes some awful mistakes that cost the team. He's inconsistent. Without his brothers being much better than he is, Marc Staal would not receive as much credit as he receives from the NHL and people on this board.

I'd take McD and Girardi over him any day of the week, no question about it.

I actually agree with you. Out of the three, he is the first one I trade. People always throw the phrase "shut down d" and "#1" tags on him, but the reality is, this guy is playing in front of Henrik Lundqvist. A good portion of the shutdown is his doing. He's a nice player, but he's not a number one because he does not play pp minutes, IMO. True #1 would play all situations. I think he does get a pass when he makes mistakes and his value is inflated in real life because of his name. On this board, you'd think he's the best we've ever had, mainly because when we had Leetch most people around here were watching cartoons, not hockey. I think this off season is the time to move him, he's a great value, but he's gonna want to get paid, and we cannot afford to have so much cap tied up from the blue line to the net. Somebody has to go and I think we can surely sell high this offseason.

 

[NYR Sting]

"Shutting down" Ovechkin isn't the great barometer of defensive acumen. Ovechkin shuts himself down by being a dumb player that tries to do the same thing 50% of the time he has the puck. I'm more impressed by defenders that can limit the impact great playmakers like Crosby or Datsyuk have on the game.

 

[zuckera1]

I actually agree with you. Out of the three, he is the first one I trade. People always throw the phrase "shut down d" and "#1" tags on him, but the reality is, this guy is playing in front of Henrik Lundqvist. A good portion of the shutdown is his doing. He's a nice player, but he's not a number one because he does not play pp minutes, IMO. True #1 would play all situations. I think he does get a pass when he makes mistakes and his value is inflated in real life because of his name. On this board, you'd think he's the best we've ever had, mainly because when we had Leetch most people around here were watching cartoons, not hockey. I think this off season is the time to move him, he's a great value, but he's gonna want to get paid, and we cannot afford to have so much cap tied up from the blue line to the net. Somebody has to go and I think we can surely sell high this offseason.

I agree, I think we should either try to trade him at the end of this year or next before his contract is up. He's worth what we're paying him now but not as much as he'll ask for when he needs to be resigned. I like Staal as a player, he works hard and is a good leader, I just think people over exaggerate when discussing his play and one reason for that is the success of his brothers.

 

[RempireStateBuilding]

My Dad and I have watched Staal and the Rangers for years, and I'm comfortable saying he may be the most overrated player on the team next to Gaborik. I don't understand why this guy gets a pass, he makes some great plays defensively...but then makes some awful mistakes that cost the team. He's inconsistent. Without his brothers being much better than he is, Marc Staal would not receive as much credit as he receives from the NHL and people on this board.

I'd take McD and Girardi over him any day of the week, no question about it.

Staal and McDonagh are actually the ones that cover for Girardi's awful mistakes 9.9 times out of 10. Even when I would catch old replays I would find myself yelling at the TV for some play that, after going back and looking at it, was almost always the direct result of some stupid, hurried play Girardi made where he had all the time in the world to make a safe and smart play. But Girardi will score 1 goal or..I don't know, get paired with our good defenseman, and people for whatever reason attribute their plays to Girardi. I'm not saying Girardi is incapable of making a good play because he's servicable (at best), but he's nothing more than a minute-eater.

But I'm curious, who do you guys want to exchange Staal for that would be cheaper, younger, better overall, and demand less money when it comes time to negotiate a contract? Will McIlrath possibly fit this bill in a few year's time?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Staal and McDonagh are actually the ones that cover for Girardi's awful mistakes 9.9 times out of 10. Even when I would catch old replays I would find myself yelling at the TV for some play that, after going back and looking at it, was almost always the direct result of some stupid, hurried play Girardi made where he had all the time in the world to make a safe and smart play. But Girardi will score 1 goal or..I don't know, get paired with our good defenseman, and people for whatever reason attribute their plays to Girardi. I'm not saying Girardi is incapable of making a good play because he's servicable (at best), but Girardi is nothing more than a minute-eater.

But I'm curious, who do you guys want to exchange Staal for that would be cheaper, younger, better overall, and demand less money when it comes time to negotiate a contract? Will McIlrath possibly fit this bill in a few year's time?

Girardi is easily worse than McD and Staal but he's a good defenseman. Incredibly overrated on the main boards as a good many of those people think he's our best defenseman.