EHM The Blue Line

I'm having trouble justifying keeping Staal with the Penguins in year #1. I'm afraid his lack of ice time would make it better to have him in JR's. My current line-up

Madden-Crosby-Bondra
Ekman-Malkin-Recchi
Malone-Staal-Ouellet
Armstrong-Talbot-Ortmeyer

Erik Christensen was tearing up the AHL (ended up there due to an injury for all of camp) and he's performing much better between Ouellet/Malone on a recall than Staal was. I've been thinking of moving Ouellet or Ekman but I think the increased playing time would be better for Armstrong. I know I'll have a place for Staal next season as Bondra and Recchi will both probably go, but do you think he'll develop in Juniors or just "staal"?

In any game I have ever played, Staal is at least 22-23 before he is anything close to being even 3rd line ready. He actually tends to develop very slowly and sometimes never even really becomes a top 6 forward. I would stick him in juniors for a year then in the AHL until his attributes show him as being worthy of NHL starting time. For that matter, the guy is very overrated and is nowhere near as good in real life as in the game, especially by AI teams, so I would seriously consider trading him. You should be able to get excellent value.

I'm with jdh79 on that. In my games, J.Staal is not a top class player, but can develop to a very decent playmaker with good checking abilities and great stamina. Assuming your 3rd line is used strictly to shut down top opposition lines, I'd put him on 2nd or 4th line, that has at least one scorer. However, when called up from AHL (at age 22-23), he should be surrounded by some experienced guys to complete his development. Hello, M.Recchi?

I haven't played out a season very far yet, for some reason setting up a team holds my attention longer than once it's up and running. Anyway, my scouts concur that Staal is "a more talented version of Mats Sundin." I don't think I'll trade him quite yet, though I'm leaning toward sending him back to JR's.

Yeah, the scouts will always lavish praise all over him and he does have incredible potential, but he is just one of those guys in the game that never develops like you think he should. Even 10+ years into the game, I have never seen him develop into more than a good #3/borderline #2 center with all technical attributes in the mid teens.

You could wait on him and hope he develops fully, but keep in mind that he tends to demand a lot of money quickly that isn't really justified by his performance/attributes and that once you start having to pay him 2 M/year and it becomes clear he isn't a future 1st liner, the AI teams won't give you near the value you can get the first year or so. Also, playing as the Pens, the 3 players you should never let go of are Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury, so even if he does become great, he will still be 3rd on your center depth chart. Yes, you can train Malkin or Staal to a wing, but really if you can get an elite defenseman for Staal (target like a guy like Regehr or Hannan) it will have far more value to you now than the future potential that he becomes great.

That's just how I would play the Pens. You have your elite forwards and goalie set, and you can just surround Crosby/Malkin with cheap 2nd line type top 6 forwards. You won't go anywhere without upgrading your defense so that is really where you need to spend the money not spent on the big 3.