Paul Stastny signs with the Blues

The fantasy take on Paul Stastny signing with the Blues

Fantasy Impact: The St. Louis Blues have signed center Paul Stastny to a four-year, $28-million deal.

 

The Blues get: The number one center on the free agent market and a player who can play both ends of the ice. He should fit perfectly into Ken Hitchcock's system and help the Blues compete in the tough Western Conference.

 

 

Fantasy players impacted:

Stastny played with talented youngsters Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog last season, but I suspect this move hurts MacKinnon more. He'll likely have to shift back to center now and that's going to take some adjusting. In the long-term he'll be fine, but in the short-term it may be an adjustment as he learns the center role at the NHL level.

 

This may not help Stastny all that much. He's likely going to play with a couple of wingers that don't boast the skill set of a Nathan MacKinnon, so from an offensive perspective it might be tough. It certainly would help someone like Patrik Berglund if they end up playing together or even T.J. Oshie for example. Either way, Stastny will be the top pivot in St. Louis and whoever he clicks with will see an upgrade – look for Oshie and perhaps Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko or Berglund. At this point, it looks as though Berglund will take the hit when it comes to PP time.

 

Still, Stastny's good enough to produce with whoever he plays with, so it won't be a massive drop off and with that being said, 55-60 points is still realistic.

 

 

Fantasy players this helps, in order:

1. Oshie

2. Schwartz

3. Tarasenko

 

 

Fantasy players this hurts, in order:

1. Stastny (marginally)

2. MacKinnon – but his natural progression/development will more than compensate

 

Stastny: 

 

 

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike