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Canes 2013 Eval Part 5: Forwards-1st line of Tlusty/EStaal/Semin

May 31, 2013, 12:12 PM ET [4 Comments]
Matt Karash
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
My review of individual players starts with a very easy group and a pleasant blog to write. After the addition of Jiri Tlusty about 7-8 games into the season, the Tlusty/EStaal/Semin line was flat out phenomenal. Alexander Semin adapted his style of play from more of a finishing/goal scoring role in Washington into more of a playmaker setting up his line mates. The result was huge goal totals by Jiri Tlusty and Eric Staal. Finally with another elite player on his line, Eric Staal had a breakout year. And Jiri Tlusty proved to be an incredible complementary player using hockey smarts and instincts to put himself in places to receive scoring chances and then finish them at a a solid pace. Most significantly, this was not the feel-good sugary version of scoring that saw just as many goals against as goals for. Rather, at the time the team more or less imploded around them, the trio was leading the entire NHL in plus/minus.

The only tiny ding on the ratings for this group is that they (especially EStaal and Semin) were part of a power play that seemed to be stocked with enough talent but failed to find any kind of groove through pretty much the entire 48-game season.

Individually, it goes like this:

Eric Staal
I think that the 2013 campaign was the best regular season of Eric Staal’s career. Yes. I realize that he put up a stunning 100 points including 45 goals in 2005-06 leading into a great playoff performance, but in terms of just being dominant and better with his line mates than whoever was on the ice against them on a very consistent basis, I just think 2013 was an entire notch higher compared to more of the raw scoring rate in 05-06. I think a points per game comparison at even strength versus on the power play is interesting. In 05-06, Eric Staal averaged 0.49 PPG on the power play and 0.73 PPG at even strength. In 12-13, he averaged only 0.19 PPG on a struggling power play and a whopping 0.92 PPG at even strength. Unless I missed someone doing a quick run through the stats, Sidney Crosby was the only player with a better PPG rate at even strength.

Grade: It is either an A or an A- if you want to take a small deduction for his role on the struggling power play.

Alexander Semin
I am on record of being a huge fan of GM Jim Rutherford’s aggressive move to sign Semin to a virtually risk free deal (how bad could 1 year be?) last summer that had huge upside. The upside came in, and the deal paid huge dividends. Semin’s stats were impressive averaging a solid point per game. But what was most striking was how quickly and successfully he developed chemistry with Eric Staal and adapted his game significantly to complement his line mates. In Washington, Semin was very much the shooter/scorer/finisher. Some wondered heading into the season how things would work with both Staal and Semin being more shoot first types who had historically played the role of finisher for other playmakers. In true chameleon form, Alexander Semin transformed into a playmaker extraordinaire. He was a key reason for Staal’s scoring surge up from the past couple years and probably an even bigger contributor to Jiri Tlusty’s massive offensive outbreak that were 2X anyone’s wildest expectations. Tlusty had an incredible knack for identifying good places to be in the offensive zone to get a scoring chance, and Alexander Semin had an incredible knack for sometimes in spectacular fashion delivering the puck there. Also significant is that there were exactly ZERO issues in terms of effort level, character, locker room fit or any of the other fuzzy negative stuff that Semin seemed to be tagged with last summer. People who want to nitpick might note that his goal total was a little low at 13 (equates to 24 goal pace for 82 games), but I think there are 2 key points to this. First of all, it was primarily a result of adapting his role to his line mates (in a good way). The line scored plenty at even strength and was significantly positive relative to its opponents. Second, Semin played much of the year with a nagging upper body injury (shoulder?) that was kept fairly quiet but likely impacted his shooting ability some. With his 5-year contract signed during the season, the Canes have an elite partner for Eric Staal on its top line that should anchor the offense for the forseeable future.

Grade: A or an A- if you (like EStaal) want to take a small deduction for his role on the struggling power play.

Jiri Tlusty
Is there a better 2013 breakout candidate across the entire NHL? At forward, the only player I come up with who could be an equal or better candidate is Nazim Kadri. Tlusty grew from being a pretty good checking line forward (with Brandon Sutter) during much of 2011-12 to being an adequate top line player who could lift his game with better line mates when he played with Eric Staal during the tail end of 2011-12 to suddenly an elite NHL goal scorer in 2013. He finished with 23 goals tying him for 5th in the entire NHL tied with Kane and Toews and ahead of elite scorers including Nash, Vanek, Parise, Neal and many others. On the one hand, Tlusty’s goal scoring surge seemed simple. He played with great line mates and benefitted from it. But this does not give him proper credit for being an incredibly heady hockey player who consistently read situations correctly and worked constantly to get himself to the right place to receive a scoring chance. His contribution making a boat load of little plays to win pucks in the offensive zone, keep pucks in, etc. to keep his line playing in the offensive zone were also significant.

Grade: A+. For a player making $1.6M and slotted as one of the depth guys in the top 9, I do not see how you could score Tlusty anything less than perfect based on his 2013 season.

You can make a very strong case that the trio of Tlusty/EStaal/Semin was as good as any line in the NHL at even strength this year. Their production makes a case, and their plus/minus makes a case especially when you adjust for how bad the Canes were defensively during a stretch in March into April.

Next up, the blogging becomes more challenging. I will take a shot at providing a fair but candid assessment of the seasons of 2nd-liners including Jordan Staal and Jeff Skinner and also the depth behind them.

If you want a quick Twitter heads up, so you don’t miss a blog or Twitter debate during the summer follow me at CarolinaMatt63.

Go Canes!
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