Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
Erat and Stempniak are not comparable players in any way.
People are hideously underating Erat here. He plays in one of the least offensive systems in hockey. He typically leads that offence.
Erat is one of the most skilled shooters and danglers in the NHL. He's also very solid on his skates at 200lbs. Think a much better version of Huselius. Erat will do very well playing along with other offensively minded players in Washington. You have to look a little beyond Erat's stats, as he plays for Nashville.
|
Yep, he is extremely underrated. I don't think Washington was looking for a random 50 point player. Erat has a lot of intangibles and a great contract (and nowadays, contract value means a lot - I like Camalleri, but his contract wasn't fetching the same as Erat's).
I also don't think Nashville was eager to trade him. He has been the face of their franchise for a long time. He has more than 700 games with them.
I still think Nashville made out well for the future, but in the present, Erat is a pretty valuable player.