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Ever since he was taken No. 2 overall during the 2006 NHL draft, Jordan Staal has been considered a building block for the Penguins. After scoring 29 goals as an 18-year old rookie straight out of Peterborough, he was compared -- locally, anyway -- to a young Mark Messier. Staal suffered a sophomore slump of sorts a year ago, netting only 12 goals on the season, and is off to yet another slow start this year. Despite logging over 20 minutes per game (only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin average more ice time among Penguins forwards) Staal has registered only three assists and zero goals through the teams first ten games. The last goal Staal scored in a regular season game was April 20 against Tampa Bay, a string of 18 consecutive regular season games without filling the net.
That has to be a concern for the Penguins, seeing as how they're relying on the 20-year old center to not only be a "building block," but as of right now, a top-six forward. Trouble is, he's not playing like either.
Staal opened this season as one of Malkin's wingers on the team's second line, and when coach Michel Therrien decided to unite Crosby and Malkin on Pittsburgh's top-line, it left Staal as the team's No. 2 center.
Even without the goal scoring (or any point production, for that matter), Staal is a very useful player. He's great defensively and an excellent penalty killer, trouble is, I'm guessing the Penguins were expecting more when they used a No. 2 overall pick on him. At this point, he's a slightly slower, younger version of Max Talbot. A good player, but not exactly a building block.
As crazy as it may sound -- and I admit, it may sound crazy -- Staal's rookie campaign may have hurt him more than it helped him, if for no other reason than creating unrealistic expectations for his career. It's only natural to assume that if an 18-year old can flirt with 30 goals as a rookie, that better days are ahead. Even if they may not be.
During his rookie season, Staal had a ridiculously high 22% shooting percentage. While I'm not saying he'll never fill the net that efficiently ever again, I am saying it's highly unlikely. Consider Wayne Gretzky only topped such a mark twice in his career (his 87 and 92 goal seasons) while Mario Lemieux also topped it only twice (his 69 and 85 goal seasons).
Obviously, as a 20-year old, it's far too soon to give up on Staal, but as of right now he's been more of a third-line/penalty killer than a younger clone of Mark Messier.
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