Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin acted early when he went out and traded third and fifth round picks for Eric Staal.
At first blush, it appears he brought in a veteran centre who could play a depth role and provide some leadership in the dressing room and experience to the ice for a team that hopes on making a playoff run.
However, the general manager and head coach Dominique Ducharme clearly had bigger plans.
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It was fairly surprising when Staal made his Habs debut last night and was playing a top six role. He had the team’s leading goal scorer Tyler Toffoli on one wing and the team’s leader in assists Jonathan Drouin on the other side. That’s a much larger role than the fourth line spot most of us penciled him in to when he was acquired.
The reason most people assumed he was a fourth line depth piece was because of his production this season.
The 36 year old centre had just ten points in 32 games this season before his trade. That’s not a lot of production and puts him tied with Joel Armia, and Paul Byron for 10th among the Habs forwards in points.
The reason we have to give Staal a little more respect is that his points came with the Buffalo Sabres. There, his ten points was enough for 5th among the team’s forwards.
Essentially, no one is scoring in Buffalo. In 37 games this season, the Sabres have scored 79 goals. Their 2.14 goals per game is the lowest in the entire league. It’s hit everybody. Even Jack Eichel had just two goals in 21 games before being injured. Taylor Hall has two goals in 37 games.
Curtis Lazar is third on their team in goals with five! It’s outrageous. The only two players who can score are Victor Olofsson and Sam Reinhart. That’s it.
Before ending up with the Sabres, Staal was always a productive centre. Last season, at the age of 35, he scored 19 goals and 47 points in 66 games for the Minnesota Wild. That’s a 24 goal and 58 point pace over a full 82 game season.
In his last full season, Staal scored 22 goals and 52 points. The year before that was one of his best as he put up 42 goals and 76 points. It’s not like the Minnesota Wild are known for their run and gun offensive style either. Yet, he averaged a pace of over 31 goals and 60 points in four seasons with the Wild.
Don’t let his low numbers with the lowly Sabres fool you, there is still plenty of offence for Staal to give.