It's weird to think that he played his first NHL game just a few months ago. His ascension has been brilliant.
Agreed. And enough of this crap about him being too slow or making bad plays or being "sheltered". He led the team in the playoffs (including, of course, the debacle against Montreal) with a plus 6. By comparison, Demelo was a plus 2. Clearly, he was far more effective than ineffective. In the regular season he was second in plus minus with a plus 13, trailing only Elhers who was a plus 15 (and thus leading all team defensemen in that stat again).
Points-wise, his three points was behind only Morrissey (five) and Pionk (four) for defensemen, despite less ice time and far less power-play time.
Goal wise, he led defensemen (but of course, he did it all in one game). I think we should expect a monumental improvement in his goal and point production next season.
And despite being a physical presence in every scrum he was on the ice for, and despite playing the body hard whenever wise to do so, he only had four minutes in penalties in those eight games. That, to me, shows that he has excellent judgement for a rookie.
It would be lunacy to leave him unprotected. Chevy found Demelo while digging through other teams' scrap heaps. He was a fine surprise, but don't tell me we can't find another one like him out there (or one of our up and comers on the Moose). Stanley is more valuable to the team right now than Appleton, who is a fine third liner but I think Harkins, if given the same time on the same line, could fulfill the same role.
The team was wise to draft and develop Stanley despite all the criticism. They sure won't give up on him now. He is the future of our blueline.