I never once said he's a 2nd line center. But he'd make a damn good 3rd line center. That's a good question why no one gave him a chance. Maybe the other team prefer veterans, maybe they don't appreciate his skill set, maybe he didn't have enough exposure yet for a team to gamble on a FA signing while high draft picks have a higher cache, maybe he's too small for most teams. There could be lots of reasons. But I do know what we've got.
BTW, that 51 point center is on pace for 27 this year. I'm pretty sure SDC could match that. But we need 2 shutdown centers apparently.
I know you didn't say "2nd liner" but that's an assumption I made since you are saying how much better he is than JGP, Lazar or Legwand. So Da Costa would be a good 3rd line Center even though "he's light years ahead of JGP/Lazar/Legwand in terms of offensive skill"? Lazar and Legwand are not worth more than 4th liners I guess... OK let's say you are correct
like you said, it's a good question that NO TEAM really tried to get a grip on Da Costa... "There could be lots of reasons" for other teams, but not for the Sens?
The reason for the Sens is simple :
Turris
Zibanejad
Legwand/Smith
Lazar/Pageau
Maybe they should have traded Zibanejad to make a place for SDC? Or you could make a case that SDC should be on this team more than Lazar... but the latter is obviously already a favorite in the organization, good luck with that.
NOTE : Legwand won't score 50 pts on the Sens for 2 reasons. He plays with Smith, Condra and Neil (guys who historically don't get a lot of points) in a
shutdown role... Their role is to not get scored against and they are doing quite well as they easily lead all forwards in the least amount of ES GA per 60 :
http://stats.hockeyanalysis.com/rat...=50&teamid=21&type=goals&sort=A60&sortdir=ASC
That's great, but that doesn't mean much. Small sample size + lesser ES minutes + goalies bailing out the Legwand line (i.e. luck) has skewed the numbers. I don't think Legwand is that great of a shutdown center. I'm not saying he's bad, but he's not as good as you are trying to insinuate. In any case the point moot. Zach Smith should be our shut down center and SDC should be on the third line. So no use of direct comparison to Legwand.
Why exactly that "doesn't mean much"? Small sample size is more than 1/4 of the season so it's starting to be "telling". Higher SV% when they are on the ice is not only "luck", it also means that they are boxing out the opposition more efficiently than others, allowing more perimeter shots than good location shots than others. It can't be
all luck, I'm sorry but can't agree with that as an argument. The Sens is a team that concedes the periphery, letting the goalie make the first save and closing out on second chances and rebounds. I know many here won't agree but that's not only my observations. It has been backed up by people in the know here in the Montreal hockey world. But I guess what would they know? They are only ex-coaches or ex-players at the highest level. So, it's not really important what you, me and Joe Blow think about that "Legwand isn't that great of a shutdown center"... what's important is the results (efficiency = ES GA) and what the coaching staff thinks.
Anyway, moot point like you say. Smith should be the center as he is not effective on the wing. Legwand-Smith-Condra/Neil is a very good shutdown line. So among the other lines... the question remains... WHERE does Da Costa plays?
MacArthur-Turris-Ryan
Michalek-Zibanejad-Chiasson
Hoffman-Lazar-Stone
Actually it doesn't piss me off. I'm just disappointed you are resorting to such weak arguments. I held you in higher regard.
And yes it is a weak argument. As I already explained you are just generalizing based on some names in a list. I guess we shouldn't go after any top 10 AHL scorers since there are some washed up players there as well. Let me give you a hint. Rhymes with Dobby Dutler.
Well thank you because if that is such a weak argument, then you must have help in very HIGH regards. The point of this argument is time and space. SDC has looked good at times on the NA ice but it remains to be seen if he could produce decently as an offensive center... a bit like Hoffman last year, little results to show.
The point IS NOT to say that those guys are CRAP players so SDC must be one too. The point is scoring in the KHL (or AHL or any league for that matter) doesn't guarantee NHL success. Simple as that. Too bad you couldn't read between the lines and only scratched the surface. Unfortunately, everyone understands hockey differently so there's a lot of explanation to do... It's damn exhaustive sometimes and sucks a lot of time.
I'm not even sure I explained it well enough. I'll add that there's no guarantee that his KHL game would transfer to the NHL as well. There's more time and space in the KHL and quality of competition is also very different. There's some very high quality players but I doubt the overall level of players defending against him and Radulov matches the NHL average... And yeah, would he play with someone of Radulov caliber in Ottawa is another question
Anyway, moot point, since my argumentation is so weak I guess.
Heres the quote from Dorion on Da Costa
"For sure we’re looking to sign him. We think (he’s) a part of our future. He showed in spurts that he’s a good NHL player, so we’d like to keep him. It has to make sense for both parties. It’s no secret that the KHL is offering him big money and it’s going to be up to (him) if he wants to pursue his NHL dream or not."
What is BIG money is my question. I imagine its more then the 2mil that Komorov got paid last year considering hes being used as one of the top KHL team's number center. Under no circumstances should L:azar being playing over him. If im Da Costa i'd be offended that after putting in the time and work and grinding it out in Bingo well being the best player there that he was given priority over me. Da Costa could easily fill Lazar roll considering hes getting soft minutes and basically producing lower or at the rate Da Costa would be producing well arguably playing will better players then Da Costa got to play with in the NHL.
Not saying Da Costa is an NHL player i just have issue with promoting players without having them pay their dues and working on their games in the minors.
That makes me hopeful that Stephane is still in the Sens plans... Obviously, they wanted to have him one more year at a low cost and a 2-way contract and control where he plays but SDC wanted money right away (understandable)... Who knows? Maybe they trade Zibanejad in a package for a winger or a D-man and offer Da Costa a 1way contract next season... he is still Sens property for a while, lot can happen.
Maybe Lazar shouldn't play over him but he's NHL ready and since he's a big part of the future in the eyes of management and coaching staff, they wanted to give him NHL experience right away to make him ready to make an impact faster in the future.
