[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

I know the analytics crowd has their way to evaluate players but IMO guys like this and Lucic are vital to a team like CGY.

First of all, let's not lump in Lucic with guys like Ritchie and Rinaldo. While hits hands may be gone, he's still a strong defensive forward who has some utility on the PP.

This team needs this kind of presence who can play in the NHL. Will their corsi be sparkling? Hopefully but to me that's not their value to the team.

"needs"?. That's such an overstatement. Of course teams need to be able to play in a versatile way, but the emphasis is on the word play. Certain players are thrown onto the ice and yet don't play at the level needed to make a positive impact, because of other perceived (read: imaginary) effects. And then their inability to play with poise and strong positioning in the defensive and neutral zones, never mind the offensive zone, ends up a total momentum shift.

Remember what Zadorov did in COL series?

Remember what Rinaldo did in WPG and DAL series??????

I've heard the arguments that these deterrents don't show up but I totally disagree. You feel the security these guys bring. Zadorov types are less impactful.

Not everything that matters shows up on Stat sheets in this game. I'm convinced of this.

Not everything people are convinced matters shows up in results in this game.