Sabres counting on Staal for playoff edge
Each year, as part of the conditions surrounding his limited no- trade clause, Eric Staal has had to provide a list of 10 teams that he does not want to play for. And each year, the list was pretty much the same.
Staal, who envisioned retiring as a Minnesota Wild, picked teams he believed would have interest in a 35- year- old rental. For the most part, they were teams whom he believed could win the Stanley Cup.
It’s safe to say that the Buffalo Sabres never made it onto the list.
So when GM Kevyn Adams acquired Staal in a trade for Marcus Johansson on Wednesday, it likely caught Staal by surprise. But it probably surprised Sabres fans even more.
After all, Buffalo is not a Stanley Cup contender. Having missed the playoffs in each of the past nine years, they might not even be considered a playoff contender.
But Adams believes Staal can turn them into one.
“Everybody knows the career that Eric’s had,” Adams, who was hired in June, said of his first trade on the job. “There’s very few players in the league that would — just from what they’ve done both on and off the ice — command the level of respect and have the presence that Eric Staal has.
“I think it’s a great thing for our locker-room. It’s great for our organization. He’s a winner. He’s been there. He’s been in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. He raised the trophy. These are really, really important experiences that he’s lived and that he’s going to bring into our locker-room and that are important to our team.”
The Sabres didn’t just acquire Staal to sit beside and mentor Jack Eichel in the dressing room. This isn’t like when Toronto signed Jason Spezza for a fourth-line role or even when Buffalo traded for Wayne Simmonds in February. It’s more like Dallas’ signing of Joe Pavelski last summer.
Like Pavelski, who scored 14 goals and 31 points this season, Staal can still play. He scored 42 goals two years ago and had 19 goals and 47 points in 66 games this season. In Buffalo, he slots in as the No. 2 centre, where he will reunite with Jeff Skinner, his former teammate in Carolina.
At the same time, the expectations on Staal will be far less than they were in Minnesota.
In Eichel, who finished in the top 10 in scoring, along with Rasmus Dahlin, Sam Reinhart and Victor Olofsson, the Sabres have plenty of offensive skill. And in firstround prospects Casey Mittelstadt and Dylan Cozens, they should have even more skill coming. What they don’t have is playoff experience.
The Sabres, who barely missed the cut for the expanded 24-team post-season, last qualified for the playoffs in 2011. That was four years before they drafted Eichel with the No. 2 overall pick and seven years before they drafted Dahlin No. 1 overall.
Eichel and Dahlin don’t know what it’s like to grind in the playoffs. They don’t even know how to grind in the months leading up to the playoffs.
A lack of playoff experience was part of the reason why the team acquired Johansson a year ago after he went to the final with the Boston Bruins, and why they also traded for Simmonds at this year’s trade deadline.
Now comes Staal, who not only knows how tough it is to win a Stanley Cup, having done so in just his second year in the league ( 2005- 06) when his teammate was a 35- year- old Rod Brind’amour. But who also knows how tough it is to simply make the playoffs, having missed out in nine of the next 10 seasons.
“The underrated part of an Eric Staal in your dressing room — and if Dylan Cozens is on your roster — is just to be with him every day and just to learn from him, not just on the ice but off the ice as well,” said Adams. “The fact that I was fortunate enough to sit next to Eric in the locker-room and we won a Stanley Cup together and I know what he’s all about definitely gives me comfort.”
The NHL might be a young man’s league — the top five scorers in the playoffs are 25 years old or younger — but if you don’t believe that there is value for veterans who have grey in their playoffs beards, then you haven’t been paying attention to the Dallas Stars.
Pavelski, who is three months older than Staal, ranks among the top 20 with nine goals and 14 points. Corey Perry, who is a year younger, has two goals and six points. It’s not just Dallas. Last year’s St. Louis Blues had three players who were 35 or older. Heading into Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final, the New York Islanders had two who were just as old.
“Their experience is invaluable,” said Stars head coach Rick Bowness. “You’re looking at two guys who’ve been around the league a long time. And they’ve only been to the final once. That’s how hard it is to get here, so you know they’re going to be digging down as deep as they can. It’s tough to get here. They’re as hungry as some of the younger guys.”
The question is whether Staal is just as hungry. If so, you may be able to pencil Buffalo in for the playoffs.