YOU THINK? Take a look at this team. We sit 8 points out of 8th in the East, and we have one of the worst offenses in the NHL.

If I'm GM, there's no way I let Stafford walk. Resign him, and use the money you have from Connolly and other expiring contracts to bring in a top 2 center to help take the work load off of Roy via FA or a trade.

You then have Jochen Hecht in a contract season, you've got Stafford breaking out, you've got another top center to place Vanek with, you've got young guns coming up to fill out the bottom two lines, and you get your ass in gear.

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Wheelhouse

I never said they should get rid of Stafford.

I said that he should not be overpaid. He's not that important to the team that you have to open the checkbook for him.

Stafford is easy to replace on the FA market.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Would you have said the same thing 2 and 3 years ago when he had brief stretches of success that have matched what he's doing this year, only to go into long stretches of disappearance? Why is he suddenly one of the guys to build your team around? What happens if he doesn't have a point in his next 10 games?

Not the current stafford.

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"Call a cop he robbed Delmore blind!!!"
Rick Jeanerette after Marty Biron's diving save back in 2000.

"I'm going to go to the spa and have a hot tub and massage and relax," Miller said. "That's it, and it's back to work tomorrow." Ryan Miller after clinching the North East division.

You going to list some names?

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Wheelhouse

Define current.

This year, or this week?

Then I start a thread asking "Why does stafford suck more than the force of a thousand black holes?"

The one that spurred the creation of this thread. The one that has us all excited that we have a legitimate first line winger for Vanek and Roy, so yeah I guess the stafford of the past couple weeks.

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"Call a cop he robbed Delmore blind!!!"
Rick Jeanerette after Marty Biron's diving save back in 2000.

"I'm going to go to the spa and have a hot tub and massage and relax," Miller said. "That's it, and it's back to work tomorrow." Ryan Miller after clinching the North East division.

The Stafford who, despite some injuries, is not far from a point per game pace this season. That Stafford.

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Wheelhouse

I prefer to hold off on anointing players as close to PPG until they pull it off over 60-70 games, not 26.

But hey, whatever floats your boat.

He's gotten what....all of his goals in the last month? He only has 22 points this year and over half of them came since mid December. One month is not a season, and hell beyond blowing my skirts up a bit, not worth getting optimistic about. I don't think we should get rid of him either, just not pay something unrealistic. Paying through the nose for "could be's" and "potential" has to fucking stop of we'll be stuck with even more bloated contracts for underperfomers.

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hes 25. its possible that hes matured enough to fill the gaps with adequate play inbetween his streaks.

he had 4 goals, 4 assists in 14 games prior to his injury. not that impressive, no. but certainly an asset. over the course of the season, that comes out to a 47 point season. thats not exactly scrub work.

i also want to point out, that it probably wont be around this age that kassian will begin to produce these sort of numbers consistently, as well.

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I think only Stamkos is scoring at a higher pace (goals per icetime) than Stafford this year.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

I'd have to double check that though.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Ive been one of the hardest on Staff in recent memory... hell Ive wanted to dress him in pink and put "cream puff" on the back of his jersey for his play last season. Has the potential, but doesn't use his size and isn't the gritty forward Id expect given his size...

That said, he currently has me off his back and Im cutting him a little slack...

BUT, I in NO way want to over pay him... we have done that enough... tossing around 4 and 5 million dollar deals like nothing and its kind of fucked this team... we were up against the cap into last year with Toni, Hank, etc... we have lost guys in years past we couldn't or didn't pay...

We are finally getting to a cap point where some of the bloated contracts are either coming off the books or becoming reasonable given the natural escalation of contracts. And to turn around a toss 4 mill per at staff i don't think would be wise... i think it could be a cap detriment if he slips back into his old girly ways... and with some guys that you are going to HAVE to pay (Myers)... I would be extremely pissed off if we had to let Myers walk because we over paid staff...

Per cap geek...Staff makes $1.9 this year... has had an ok season so far... and someone wants to double his pay.... I give staff 2 - 3 years between $2.5 - $3.25 .... lets see him put it up over a season or two....

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1). Crosby - 2.14 g/60 mins icetime
2). Stamkos - 2.13
3). Stafford - 1.97
4). D. Sedin - 1.96
5). Briere - 1.86

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Behindthenet has different numbers for that stat, although I didn't check to see if they have updated numbers overall.

Remember he was out for about a month too with the shoulder injury

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I'm not buying too much Stafford stock right now, although I am admittedly AMAZED by his current point production. It's something more than a few good bounce and a hot streak, he's found another level of confidence to his game for sure.

Howeva...

The thing with a player like Stafford that I think we should all watch for, is how he plays when things are NOT going well for himself or the team. Will he adhere to this new found excellence and persevere? Or will he get frustrated and start doing the bad things that he did early in the season. Like fail to support the defense and get the puck deep. When he's struggling, he seems to get caught up in it and it spirals his game downward with forced fanciness and undisciplined.

If it turns out that he's a Jeckly/Heide that's fine, many if not most NHL players are wired the same way, but buyers beware.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger