Jordan Staal started the 2015-16 season a bit slow. His scoring was light just like 2014-15, but for me it was more about him just not being a physical presence often enough and playing the shutdown brand of hockey that is his foundation as a hockey player. It is not that he was bad in October and November, it is just that I was hoping for something more like…well December and January.

Coinciding nearly perfectly with the team turning around its season was the surge of Jordan Staal. He has pretty consistently been 1 of the 3-4 best (if not the single best) players on the ice in many games. On slow scoring nights, he and his line mates Joakim Nordstrom and Andrej Nestrasil are playing as many minutes as possible against the opponents’ best lines and giving up very little. And they are driving possession in the offensive zone such that it often builds momentum for the next shift when the other team spends 40 seconds playing defense or battling for pucks in their own end before trying to get to the red line to dump the puck and give up possession in the process to get a line change. This wins a shift and sets up the next 1 with a great starting point.

Canes fans who watch the Hurricanes game in and game out and appreciate how well Jordan Staal is playing right now, but I am not sure the rest of the hockey world does. The trolls take a quick look at his scoring totals and start bashing him based upon his salary. It is true; Jordan Staal’s stats are modest. He is currently on target for 43 points which is perfect fodder for those who like to say he is overpaid. But I think those numbers understate what he is doing right now. He is leading a line that is two-thirds young depth players, and that line is good enough to hold its own against other teams’ best lines right now. Last season, Andrej Nestrasil was an odd man out in Detroit and plucked off the waiver wire on his way back to the AHL. Joakim Nordstrom was expendable by the Blackhawks because on that team he was at best a fourth-line depth player. Both are playing great hockey, but neither are stereotypical second line players and neither leans offense/playmaking. If you took Jordan Staal’s level of play right now and paired him with 2 higher-end but still 2-way forwards, what might his scoring pace be? Might he be on target for a 55-60 points which is pretty solid output in a league where the league lead was 87 last year?

I have always said that with Jordan Staal it is not about point totals but winning when he is on the ice. He is doing that right now. And by doing it with 2 less expensive players on his wings, he is making a roster that is light on forward depth work 3 lines deep. That has been a huge part of the Canes December and January success.

Go Canes!