Versteeg: 15 points through 25 games. Not too bad, but he is also a -11, by far the worst on Toronto. He has also been demoted to the second line alongside Kessel
Byfuglien: 29 points through 28 games. Second in the leagues power ranking among defensemen only behind Lidstrom
Captain Ladd: 28 points in 28 games. Adding great scoring depth and clutch goals for Atlanta, and one of the major reasons they are competing for the top of the Southeast division.
Eager, Sopel, Burish, ect... All keeping their usual roles. Nothing to see here.
And Niemi: well he's all but forfeited his starting role to the Fin who has a hard name to spell.
I found Ladd's and Byfuglien's production thus far too be shocking. Buff is known for his great point shot, but I thought the move to defense was a foolish one, given his defensive awareness and because he has great presence in front of the net.
I've been trying to reason Ladd's production, and the only things I can think of is garbage goals FTW, and him playing on the second line. Other than that, I am stumped. Maybe the almighty C has given him more confidence as well as being a big fish in a small pond.
As for Versteeg, he's playing on a shitty team, and I never thought that highly of him anyway, so I don't really care. He might pick it up, but the -11 does not surprise me one bit. I can only imagine how many of those goals are because of his turnovers.
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