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The Confluence

Penguins’ Staal has me channeling David Ferrie

by Tony on 11/13/09 at 12:35 PM ET
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”It’s a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, inside a riddle,” - David Ferrie (as portrayed by Joe Pesci), JFK - 1991

If someone can claim to dicipher the true value of Jordan Staal to the Pittsburgh Penguins, please, be my guest.

The young man (just turned 21 on Sept. 10th) is obviously very talented at the NHL level and has performed brilliantly at times.  At other times, however, he really makes you scratch your head.

His list of accomplishments so far in his 3+ seasons is certainly noteworthy:  #2 overall pick in the ‘06 NHL Draft.  3rd in Calder Trophy voting, behind Evgeni Malkin and Paul Stastny.  29 goals in his rookie year.  Broke the NHL record for most short-handed goals in rookie season with seven.  Two career hat tricks.  His short-handed goal in Game 4 of the ‘09 Stanley Cup Finals may have saved the Penguins’ chances to win the Cup.  His defensive performances in Games Six and Seven of the Finals were simply outstanding.

But for all of those kudos, it seems as though every time the Pengins attempt to elevate his status on the team and move him into a more prominent scoring role, he fails to impress.  There have been times that Staal has been on both Sidney Crosby’s and Malkin’s wing and just recently has been the #2 center with Malkin out of the lineup with a bum shoulder.  The result ?  One goal and one assist in his last ten games.

Eyebrows were raised by more than one Penguins fan last season when the Pens signed Staal to a 4-year, $16 million extension.  Some fans questioned whether Staal, who may very well turn out to be nothing more than a very good third line center, deserved that type of salary, especially considering how tight the Penguins’ cap will be for the foreseeable future, with Crosby’s and Malkin’s near-maximum salaries.  Staal will earn $3.5 million this year and next, then $4.5 the final two years of his deal.  By the way, that’s pretty much the same salary as his teammate, Chris Kunitz (if you’d like a water cooler discussion piece).  There have been rumblings among the fans over the past couple of years that trading Staal for that elusive “scoring winger” for Crosby is what the Penguins need to remain a Stanley Cup contender.

Having said all that though, I think it’s important to emphasize once again, Staal just turned 21.  The recent influx of extremely young superstars, especially his teammates Crosby and Malkin, perhaps has made it relatively unfair to youngsters like Staal to naturally progress without such scrutiny.

So, who knows how Staal will turn out.  Will he “turn the corner” and become the offensive force that many thought he would be as the #2 pick in the draft ??  Or, as I said, will he merely be arguably the best #3 center in the NHL ??

Time will only tell.

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 Tags: NHL-Hockey, Pittsburgh+Penguins,

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