So there isn’t much going on at the moment. This seems like a legit time to check in with the players banished from Texas by Jim Nill this past summer. Some have performed exactly as you would expect, but a couple have been pleasant surprises for their new clubs.
Loui Eriksson
Loui has had a rough start to his Boston Bruins career. In 11 games he has two goals and three assists. The Bruins are using Eriksson to check top line competition every night which can’t be helping his production. He has 144 minutes at even strength. 130 have come with Patrice Bergeron. The highlight of his early season is probably the ridiculous cheap shot John Scott threw his way.
Brenden Morrow
The former captain has entered the final phase of his career. However long he wants that to last is up to him, but he appears to be on his final legs in the NHL. Things haven’t been the same for Morrow for several years, and he is a bottom line player for the St. Louis Blues. Granted, the Blues are a deep team. But Morrow was realistically a bottom six forward for the Stars the past two years if we’re being generous.
He has two goals and an assist in nine games. Ken Hitchcock is giving him a hair over 11 minutes a night. He can likely keep playing as long as he wants given his reputation, but his days of being a top six answer are over.
Reilly Smith
Smith is out to a very good start in his Bruins debut. He has two goals and nine assists in 16 games. Smith had flashes of brilliance last year as a rookie, but he found great difficulty finishing those chances he generated. He still isn’t putting many in the back of the net, but he is picking up the assists. Assist totals can get padded by secondary assists, but those are more plentiful when playing with good players. Like Eriksson, Smith’s most ice time has come with Bergeron.
Derek Roy
Roy has been a somewhat effective player for the Blues. He has four goals and four assists in 15 games. This isn’t likely to be the level of impact he anticipated making, but given that he is on the ice for 13 minutes per night eight points isn’t too shabby.
The downside for Roy is that he hasn’t been given much responsibility at even strength. He is seeing roughly the same type of minutes as Morrow, but he isn’t being sheltered to the same extreme degree. He ideally would be feasting in these minutes. The big payday he was expecting last off season doesn’t seem likely for the upcoming season at this point.
Jaromir Jagr
Jagr is doing what he does. Five goals. Eight assists. He likely has the puck all the time. The man is a machine.
Philip Larsen
Larsen has skated in five games with the Edmonton Oilers this season. He has five assists. This five game stretch is already the second most productive season of the young Dane’s career. The Oilers are hemorrhaging goals with him on the ice, but at least they’re getting something from him at the other end of the rink to help balance out the force.
Eric Nystrom
The Nashville Predators signed Nystrom to a four year deal this offseason. In 17 games he has registered four goals and an assist. He isn’t being used in his own end very much. He isn’t checking quality forwards. I’m still not entirely sure why they felt the need to give him a four year deal to only use him as a third or fourth liner given the freely available talent that wouldn’t require a four year commitment.
There you have it. Jaromir Jagr, Reilly Smith and Loui Eriksson have been the most productive players with their new teams. The rest have been a mixed bag, but the season is early. It will definitely be worth checking in later in the year to see how they are progressing.