I just read your forwards review. Do you think E. Staal has effectively played himself off of team Canada, to date?
- jmatchett383
I doubt it. He has a couple things going for him. First, he played (well) on the last Olympic team that won gold, so he is a known quantity in this setting/role. Second, he has a long track record as a good NHL player. It is not like he had 1-2 good seasons. So I think evaluation will consider how he is playing right now (not that great) but also his history.
Interestingly, there are a few players in the same boat. Maybe most notable is Claude Giroux. You also have Stamkos out and Nash just returning and trying to play his way into form.
This said, there are obviously a lot of good options for team Canada, so best would be if he could play a good month of hockey starting about right now leading up to selection of the team.
