For anyone catching up, a menu of previous player (and also coach and GM) report cards can be found at the bottom of the article.
Jordan Staal’s starting point for the 2016-17 season
In his third season with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2015-16, Jordan Staal had his best season wearing red, black and white. His season was nothing special out of the gate, but he was front and center when the team finally found the ignition switch in early December. Flanked by Joakim Nordstrom and Andrej Nestrasil, the line seemingly light on high-end talent and recognized names was the team’s best on many nights during a surge that lasted from early December through late February. Jordan Staal led the way collecting and winning loose pucks in the defensive zone and serving as a one-man break out that regularly carried the puck through the neutral zone and was able to make a play at the offensive blue line to keep possession entering the offensive zone. When the dust settled on the 2015-16 season, Staal had collected a respectable (second on the team) 48 points, reestablished himself as a shutdown center and staked a strong claim to being the Hurricanes’ most valuable player for the season.
Jordan Staal’s 2016-17 season with the Carolina Hurricanes
The 2016-17 season started with some uncertainty for Staal. After a serious back injury in late February of 2016, Andrej Nestrasil’s readiness to start the 2016-17 season was in question. Nestrasil ultimately made the opening night lineup but was unable to find the level he played at before his injury. Nordstrom also started slowly, and very shortly into the 2016-17 Coach Bill Peters was back to square one in terms of building a first or second line around Jordan Staal. The early-season line mate churn took some toll on Jordan Staal’s game. He was not horrible and his 9 points in 21 games to start the season was a little light but not way off target. But to those who watched him at his peak in 2015-16, he just was not at the same elite level in terms of controlling possession and driving the play into the offensive zone.
From there, Staal saw a rotation of line mates as the season progressed. In the first shuffle, Staal found a burst of scoring flanked by skilled Finnish forwards Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. An injury-interrupted second quarter of the season saw Staal net 3 goals and 5 assists in only 13 games played. And a stretch later in the season saw Staal regularly paired with Elias Lindholm who very clearly found a higher gear when challenged in a two-way role on Staal’s top defensive line. In evaluating Staal’s 2016-17 season, I think his subtle but significant contribution to Lindholm’s development must be noted. Largely playing with Lindholm, Staal surged during the winter months just like he had in 2015-16. He collected 15 points (5 goals and 10 assists) in 21 games during the third quarter of the season when the team in total was struggling. Staal finished with 3 goals and 9 assists in the final 20 games of the season and a total of 45 points in 75 games which was comparable to his 48 points in 82 games in 2015-16.
In total, Staal followed up his strong 2015-16 season with a similar performance in a similar role in 2016-17 though I think he took a small step down in terms of his dominance defensively.
Grading Jordan Staal
Graded as: An elite checking line forward and top 6 center capable of matching up and at least drawing even against anyone.
Grade: B+. Staal was good in 2016-17 but somewhat in the same vein as Jeff Skinner, I think one notch higher is possible. To be clear, scoring is NOT the primary measure of Staal’s effectiveness in his role, but especially with a bit more scoring talent on his wings in 2016-17 (and going forward), I would hope for more like mid-50s for scoring. In addition, while Staal was good in terms of driving the puck out of the defensive end and into the offensive end, I actually think he was slightly better in that regard in 2015-16. If Staal matches his 2016-17 in 2017-18, that will be a positive, but being a tough grader on the top players, I think a little bit more is possible.
Looking forward to 2017-18
At a basic level, Jordan Staal’s role in 2017-18 will be exactly the same. He will be expected to anchor the team’s top defensive line, match up against the other teams’ best scoring lines as much as possible and break even playing those tough minutes. As the Hurricanes become deeper and more skilled at the forward position, Staal will continue to see upgrades in terms of scoring potential on his wings. It is not reasonable to expect Staal to suddenly morph into an elite scoring forward, but as the talent around him increases, he must be capable of providing incrementally more offense as the team tries to move from the bottom third of the league in scoring up to the middle if not better.
What say you Canes fans?
Is a B+ too nit-picky for a top of the lineup player who fulfilled his role? Or do you agree that while Staal had a good year, it is fair to ask for slightly better?
To what degree do you think Jordan Staal’s modest scoring totals are a function of the Hurricanes’ lack of skilled depth at the forward position and the fact that Staal has historically been left to play with players who would be depth forwards on deeper teams?
If you could pair Jordan Staal with one forward to make two-thirds of a first or second line for 2017-18, who would it be and why?
Previous report card articles
Thoughts on Lucas Wallmark and Valentin Zykov’s short auditions
Go Canes!
One acquisition that would fit the bill for Staal’s line is either Hayes or Miller, from the NYR. THE RANGERS have capspace problems again, and may have to move one of their better forwards. Another pretty good option (not necessarily for Staal’s line) is one of a
few TB forwards, who TB might have a hard time fitting into their cap situation!
1)B+ is probably fair, I might have given him an A-.
2)I think giving him better wingers would boost his assists but the only time I can remember him really carrying and driving offence on a team was when Malkin and Crosby were both hurt and he was playing like a maniac. I could be wrong though.
3)I’d like to see him paired with Skinner on a trial run. I’d be interested in seeing the new, more defensively reliable Jeff Skinner take advantage of the possession numbers Jordan creates. Also, I think putting a sniper on his wing may boost the offence for the line as opposed to when he’s paired with play makers, he just doesn’t seem to bury enough chances.
A. I really don’t think Canes fans really appreciate what we have in Jordan Staal.
He is one of the top defensive forwards in the league, and his possession numbers are excellent. As for points, anything over .6 ppg is a bonus – he actually only had two season with the Pens where he averaged more than that, so I wouldn’t pick that nit.
What is interesting to me is that while his scoring is pretty consistent his shooting percentage has really dropped. There is information in that data but I haven’t thought enough about it to fully understand. He is taking about the same number of shots per season but fewer are going in. Is he taking lower percentage shots? -if so, is that correlated to his linemates? Or has he lost something from his shot?
I think this was another quietly excellent year from JStaal, well worth the A.
The Skinner-Staal combination was tried a few years and it was an experiment that didn’t last long. I would be curious to see it again. And I would love to see the TSA line get some more play – I recall the 2-minute plus shift that line had, with plenty of scoring opportunities. Dominant.
I wouldn’t mind Skinny and Staal…if the other wing was a guy like Hayes, a banger who would make that line a real force!
I have to agree, Jordan Staal is unappreciated. Granted watching him in front of the net with the puck on his stick can be a frustrating experience, but as raleightj rightly pointed out, he is one of few elite defensive forwards in the whole of the NHL. He is also one of the primary drivers behind Bill Peters’ puck possession game style. I still think he could be a 50 point player, but seeing as are one of the best puck possession teams in the NHL and Jordan Staal is probably the best puck possessor on our team, I’d say he’s something of a foundational player.
Hey puckgod, you know whats awesome? The Rangers have cap AND expansion draft troubles, so I fully agree, they are in line for some serious fleecing this offseason. Wonder what GMRF has else up his sleeve. I’m more of a Miller or Krieder fan myself, but I could accept Hayes too.
I still really like Rickard Rakell with the Ducks as a great possible addition, but seeing as he’s blown up in the playoffs and they have just as good defensive depth as we do, it’s probably a lost cause, but dang that guy can put pucks in nets. Realistically, I’d probably see the addition playing with Lindy and Aho, however, and see Teuvo and DiGi as the likely partners for Staal. Though……and I just want to throw this craziness out there just for fun….Warren Foegele
I agree: we don’t appreciate Staal enough and we’d have a gaping hole on our team without him. We forgot to mention he is our best forward on the penalty-kill. I don’t think it’s realistic that he elevates his scoring much from here. Maybe a little. What he does on a consistent basis is more than enough to earn his keep for me.
Now, if he could only finish on a breakaway.
It has been a few years, and Skinner has improved defensively, but I a REALLY skeptical of a Skinner/Staal pairing because how bad they were the first time. (I think Peters agrees based on the fact that he does shuffle lines regularly and has tried about everything without ever turning to this for more than a handful of shifts in 3 years as head coach.)
In almost all of the shortened 2012-13 season together, both players scored at a reasonable rate, but gave up twice (literally) as they generated.
As a style of play level, I just don’t see them working for a few reasons:
1-The strength of both players offensively is playing with the puck on their sticks. Staal has a bias for carrying at least to the blue line and then looking for options, and Skinner similarly likes to play with the puck on his stick.
2-Skinner’s freelancing ways even if improved in terms of risk/reward decisions were a poor fit for Staal. Playing with Skinner was the only time Staal looked lost defending because he was put in so many tough situations. For whatever reason, Rask seems better able to read off of Skinner even when it deviates from the text book.
Conceptually, as the team becomes deeper at forward, I think Peters’ general goal will be opposite for these 2 players. Get Staal as many minutes as possible against the other teams’ best looking for a draw. Get Skinner as many minutes as possible against the other teams’ worst looking put Skinner in the best position to prey on weakness and score in bunches. This deployment strategy by Peters also suggests that they will continue to travel different paths.
Well stated, Matt. You have re-convinced me. 🙂
Everybody has pretty much nailed the fact that Staal is earning his keep. One statistic that I haven’t seen on any of the analytic sites is board battles (let me know if anyone has seen something similar). I would think Staal is the best forward by far on the Canes and one of the best in the league.
He will be a great veteran leader as the team moves up the next few years.