Paul Stastny is quietly having a pretty good season.
Let me explain. No, he’s not himself from 4 or 5 years ago, when he was putting up Gs & As like a boss with the Avalanche. No, he’s not even himself from Yr 1 with the Blues, when he notched 46 points in 74 games, including 30 assists. But he’s scoring at a similar pace to Year 1, at about 0.62 points-per-game.
His assists are down this year (he’s at 20). So he’s not creating plays as much. But part of that we can attribute to his many different line mates this year. He’s had just about every Blues winger on his flanks, including non-producing, almost-busts Dmitrij Jaskin and Nail Yakupov. And the team has gone through a couple of prolonged scoring slumps, from the most recent of which they just emerged with last night’s win over Colorado. In that slump, the team scored just 6 goals 5 games.
What’s encouraging, however, is his goal total. He has 17, and that’s already more than the 16 he put in in his first season with the team. He’s on pace to end up at 22 goals. And the Blues need every one of those if they want to make any kind of postseason run. And Stastny’s shooting percentage is the highest it’s been with the team, at 17.3%.
His point production has been fairly consistent this year. There have been two four-game stretches during which he went point-less. But other than that, the production’s been there. And that’s despite a couple of brief stays on injured reserve.
I was thrilled when the Blues landed him in the summer of 2014. They needed him badly, and they beat out multiple teams to win his services. I love it when big-ticket free agents sign with the Blues, and while Paul Stastny hasn’t been a No. 1 center for the team, he’s still been a solid player earning his keep. And seems like a really good guy, to boot. It was really cool seeing him score and celebrate with his family at the glass in Colorado.
Thanks for reading.
Open Ice Notes 