Alright Caps fans, what have we got here? All the scouting reports I've read say he's fast, gritty, likes to crash and bang, and is a great team guy.
He is an undersized spare-part fourth-line forward. He was a bit of a *minor* fan favorite for some Caps fans because of his Aussie status and undersized/underdog status. Those fans will tell you that the Caps made a mistake in waiving him, and that he's a valuable player--because "he hustles" or "he forechecks" or "he agitates" or "he plays with energy" or "he gets under the opponent's skin." But, in my opinion, those are the absolute BARE MINIMUM expectations of a fourth-line forward trying to get more ice time--those are NOT things you're supposed to give him a pat on the back for. And he wasn't particularly outstanding in terms of meeting those bare-minimum expectations, either. Yes, he throws his undersized body around, but he's too small to be effective in that role--he usually just bounces off the bigger players, and it rarely creates a turnover.
He was a spare-part forward who couldn't earn ice time on a mediocre and injury-plagued Capitals team. And one could argue that the only reason he made the team in the first place was because he'd have to pass through waivers, and the team wanted to see if he could cut it in the NHL. Which he couldn't. Not with the Caps, at least.
