Jarret Stoll and the possible effects on the lineup

Stoll was dominant on face offs for the kings in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final

I am sure nearly every Rangers fan by now knows that the team added versatile, veteran center Jarret Stoll to the organization yesterday on a one year deal for $800K. This deal has created numerous conversations between Rangers fans about the roster and I thought I may as well write out my thoughts here.

Stoll is a 33 year old, 2 time cup champion with the LA Kings that brings a few elements to the Rangers. He has decent size at 6’1, 215 lbs and is a right handed shot. Four years ago I would have been ecstatic about this, Stoll is just one of those players that I love, but the truth is he isn’t the same player as he once was. He has been regressing a bit every year and it isn’t right to simply assume he would bounce back to his play as a 28 year old. That said I still believe he can be effective on the 4th line for a few reasons and also think he has a lot of effect on the Rangers’ roster.

For those who wanted the Rangers to improve on faceoffs, the Rangers certainly did this summer with the expected integration of Oscar Lindberg, a wonderful two way player who is great at face offs, and Stoll, who is one of only three players who have posted a FO win % of 51% or over since the 03-04 season. Assuming Stoll makes the team, he, along with Moore and Lindberg, should be able to take defensive zone faceoffs.

Why is this so important?

Derek Stepan and Derick Brassard can now get a majority of their starts in the offensive zone. This is huge for the Rangers as it simply gives them more of a chance to put the puck in the net. It is also worth noting that Stoll has been used on the power play since his rookie year so that is something the Rangers may experiment with throughout at least pre season.

Jarret Stoll also makes it seem clearer and clearer that the Rangers have the intent to move Kevin Hayes to the wing and play in the top 6. IThis helps him a lot as I was already thinking he was going to hit 50 points this season, but now possibly playing with one of Stepan or Brassard makes it seem more and more likely.

Now here is the big one. I’m sure you all at least thought about it. What does this mean about Tanner Glass? To me it is just looking more and more possible that he will be moved before the regular season starts. There is simply very little room right now, which is great for a contending team.

To me this is how the forward lines potentially looks:

Nash-Brassard-Zuccarello
Kreider-Stepan-Hayes
Miller-Lindberg/Moore-Etem
Stalberg/Lindberg-Stoll/Moore-Fast
Glass, Bourque (maybe)

Lindberg doesn’t have a guaranteed spot but in all likeliness should be there. He has nothing left to prove in the AHL and has shown that he is defensively responsible in every league that he has played in. With the top-six fairly set, and with Miller, Fast, Etem and Moore almost definitely on the every night lineup, that leaves Lindberg, Stoll, Glass, Stalberg and maybe even Bourque to fight for the final three spots (including 13F).

Considering the way they’ve interviewed him, it looks like Stoll is here to stay. I don’t see the Rangers jettisoning Stalberg after clearly pursuing him heavily. Finally, I don’t see the Rangers exposing Oscar Lindberg to waivers. The team is filling up and with money getting tight a move should be made by October.

Back to the actual signing, I really have mixed emotions. While Stoll is clearly regressing and doesn’t have the best possession stats, the signing does give the Rangers depth for a cheap price. Numbers wise he isn’t exactly worth the contract (more details below) but he is better than Tanner Glass and may push him out of the lineup. Stoll’s versatility is awesome for this team and I am sure Rangers’ fans will like him as long as he plays hard and doesn’t skate like molasses.

For those wondering how Stoll looks on my PSAM tool, see below. Stoll at $800K is 1.1% of the salary cap. That puts him in Tier 2 in all of the scopes. I added Tanner Glass for comparisons sake.

“_AVG FWD 2” stands for the average stats for a forward in tier 2.

P.S.A.M. Will be up and running soon

To read this correctly, we see that AVG FWD 2 at that percentage of the salary cap puts up better overall numbers than both Stoll and Glass. While neither are worth their contracts based on this production comparison, Stoll is miles better than Glass. If this signing means a stronger fourth line, then this is a solid signing.