Stajan accepts 4th line role with Flames

[herman]

Thanks, cw.

Stajan was my favourite Leaf while he was here. Scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game for his hometown team the night after his first professional game (and point) made for a great story.

Even though I knew he would never be afforded the chance here, I thought he was captain material the way he carried himself on and off the ice. I'm glad he's finding a role now, and a team that appreciates him.

 

[cw]

Thanks, cw.

Stajan was my favourite Leaf while he was here. Scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game for his hometown team the night after his first professional game (and point) made for a great story.

Even though I knew he would never be afforded the chance here, I thought he was captain material the way he carried himself on and off the ice. I'm glad he's finding a role now, and a team that appreciates him.

Of Leafs draft picks, all time:
He's 25th in NHL games played and should finish handily inside the top 20 if not the top 10.
He's 26th in career NHL points and 27th in career NHL goals scored and should likely finish handily inside the top 20.

Some might argue that supports the notion that the Leafs haven't drafted well and few would be shocked - they're probably right. But of the more than 7,200 who have played in this league, Stajan is already inside the top 10% in games played and points scored and is likely to finish there in goals scored. And he's guaranteed to have made $31+ mil doing it.

When he showed up, I described him as Bambi on blades - he was defensively smart and had some skill but was so weak on his skates. I'd say he turned out pretty well, all things considered. And he did it in a very nice and classy way. Good for him.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Stajan scored 41 points in 55 games playing with Kessel and Poni in 09-10 before he was traded to Calgary. That's a 61-point pace. And that was before Phil emerged as a point-per-game player.

 

[herman]

https://www.thestar.com/sports/breakaway_blog/2017/01/congrats-to-ex-leaf-matt-stajan.html

I remember Stajan told me years ago he was never once the best player on any team he ever played for. But he might have been the hardest working, the most coachable, the most adaptable and the most affable.

[...]

From his 2002 draft year -- he was a second-rounder -- only third overall Jay Bouwmeester (1,034) and first overall Rick Nash (954) have played more regular season games than Stajan.

Only 104 of the 291 prospects over nine rounds in the '02 draft played at least one game in the NHL. It wasn't the greatest draft pool ever, but some have done all right, including Duncan Keith and Cam Ward.

It was a draft that was rich for the Maple Leafs, with five of their picks making the NHL, Alexander Steen (783 games and still going), Ian White (503 games, retired), Staffan Kronwall (66 games and still in the KHL) and Jarkko Immonen (20 games, still playing in the Swiss league).

The Maple Leafs -- given their habit then of trading their first-round picks -- missed big-time in the 2003 and 2004 drafts. The '03 draft will probably go down as the best draft ever (for a variety of reasons). The Leafs best player that year was John Mitchell. The Leafs gave up on the 6-1 native of Oakville, Ont., but he's managed to forge a decent career, at 517 games and counting, mostly with Colorado.

The last player the Leafs drafted who reached 900 games was Tomas Kaberle (984).

Stajan is the 16th Leafs draft pick to hit 900 games.