Quote:
Originally Posted by sparxx87
I watch the Avs quite a bit actually. Being in the east, I usually watch 1 western game per night. As I already stated, Chris Stewart and Matt Duchene were a big part in me starting to watch Colorado on a semi regular basis.
I see Stastny making plays that any other average 2nd liner makes. He doesn't do anything special. Top line playmakers make their line mates better and create opportunities. Stastny doesn't seem to do that. He seems to make generic plays that result in a whole lot of nothing.
I'm not solely basing everything on stats, but guys making 6.6 million dollars annually are expected to put up numbers, something Stastny hasn't done for what's going on 3 years now.
Duchene and O'Reilly got the better wingers to play with because they were playing better. It's that simple. It's not some conspiracy against him, Joe Sacco wants to keep his job and will put whoever he thinks gives him the best chance out there.
Stastny's play has declined and there's really no disputing that. He's underproducing and overpaid. May as well keep him because he won't return much value in a trade at 6.6m and the cap going down next year.
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What do you expect Stastny to do? He has obviously quit on Sacco, who hasn't on this team? Sacco expects this team to play dump and chase consistently, won't give them any creative freedom to carry it in, just wants them to be "his style", which has hampered Stastny.
O'Reilly got Landeskog because that was originally Colorado's checking line, but they meshed so well together and built such great chemistry that they eventually became the 1st line while also still being a checking line. In Duchene's case, he was used on the 4th line last season, on the wing, in the press box, everything because Sacco didn't like the way he played.
Lastly, your point about Stastny regressing is true, I think he has regressed too. He doesn't seem as dynamic as he was a few years ago and its a shame because he's still very young, this shouldn't happen to players in such a short time-frame. Maybe inconsistency, but its not that, it just seems like he's already lost a step. However, I do attribute some of his bad play to the wingers he's been given. He plays with Aaron Palushaj and David "68 goals in 250 games = 4 million dollars" Jones, who absolutely sucks and should be playing in the AHL at best because he's not a top 6 forward and he doesn't play like a bottom 6 player should either.
Everyone saw what Stastny could do at the end of last season with McGinn. Yes, it was a bit of a hot streak for him. However, McGinn has an amazing shot and was really feeling it. Give Stastny somebody, anybody who can finish and he will put up the points. He can get you the puck, there is no denying that, and he'll get it to you in prime scoring positions, he just needs you to finish the play. He can't set you up and then finish the play himself, so some of the blame goes to the wingers. His very good seasons that earned him the contract were playing with Milan Hejduk and Andrew Brunette, two guys who, albeit near the end of their respective careers, were playing very well and finishing their opportunities when Stastny set them up. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Stastny's wingers over the last 3 seasons, save for Chris Stewart until he got traded