Expectations were pretty high when the Blues announced Paul Stastny would be joining the team. Fans expected Stastny to jump right in and be the player in the middle of the ice the team has been lacking. They hoped Stastny would bring balance to the St. Louis offense and make the team’s offense a bit more formidable. Have those expectations panned out? Not yet.
The success of Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera have drawn the attention away from Stastny. It’s almost easy to forget Stastny is even on the roster when you’re surrounded by hat tricks and insane goals from the STL line. Therein lies the problem. To date, Stastny has been disappointing. It’s early, but he has failed to transform any of the lines he has skated on which is a serious issue considering the Blues are paying him $7 million a year.
Through 11 games, Stastny has two goals, three assists and a plus/minus rating of (-7). Now, the plus/minus statistic has its flaws and shouldn’t be used for serious analysis, but it is worth noting that Stastny’s (-7) is the worst on the roster.
Skipping statistics all together, fans who have watched each Blues game this season have probably noticed that there’s something missing. Stastny isn’t making that nifty pass or setting up one of his linemates as we saw him do so many times in Colorado. Is that due to the talent around him? Maybe the fact several Blues players are struggling is a part of the cause, but the main factor is that Stastny hasn’t impressed or taken a game over as he was expected to do when the team signed him. He hasn’t been bad, but he hasn’t lived up to the billing or to the price tag at this stage of the season.
Stop for a moment and pretend that the STL line wasn’t dominating opposing defenses. St. Louis fans would be up in arms about Stastny’s play. As is, it has slipped under the radar, but it’s definitely something to keep your eye on. Is he playing hurt? Has a lack of chemistry slowed his transition into the fold?
I’ll revisit this topic in a few weeks after he has played in more games, but for now it’s clear Stastny is off to a sluggish start in St. Louis.
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