Unboxing de Juguetes Power Rangers de Saban
The offseason before the 2014-2015 season, the New York Rangers generously gave Derek Stepan anaverage annual salaryof $6.5 million. At the time, it made sense because he had a great regular season and even stronger playoff performance in 2015.
His most important contribution that season was his game seven overtime winner against the Capitals to complete a 3-1 series comeback and send the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row. But that isnt indicative of how hes playing now.
Over the course of games one through four of this first round series against the Canadiens, Stepan has been nearly nonexistent. He has only posted one assist in game two, which the Rangers didnt even win. And his +/- rating has been even except in gamethree, which was also a loss.
More from Blue Line StationEven his faceoff percentage has dramatically decreased, going from 47% in the regular season to 38% in the postseason. the rangers are now relying on other players such as Mika Zibanejad, Oscar Lindberg, and Kevin Hayes to win draws.
Stepan is averaging about 30 shifts per game and 21 minutes of ice time, so its not a matter of him not being played. Simply put, he needs to start playing better with the opportunities he gets.
Currently, he is on a line with Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello, so lack of talent isnt the problem either. Zuccarello is capable of making great passes, and Kreider has incredible speed. Stepan needs to start making the magic happen with this line, but he must start with himself.
One of the only good things hes done so far this series is not take many penalty minutes (2). However, this shows that hes also not getting that involved in the post-whistle action or hitting during the games.
Come game six, Stepan should try to get open more, hit more, and take more shots on goal. There is no doubt he is capable of this style of play, which is whyhe needs to get back on track. Starting now.
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFS-PV3oJZLsFC2sQxVY6Ml5eGkxQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=RnX6WOjZONGu3AG0jYGQDQ&url=https://bluelinestation.com/2017/04/21/new-york-rangers-derek-stepan-needs-performance-level-start-matching-salary/
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