Quoting: Xqb15a
Maltsev as the 4C going into the playoffs is not what I would call a comfortable position to be in.
Why not? The guy does everything you want from a 4C except PK but that seems to be more of a trust thing due to his newness to the team rather than ability.
Some stats to note:
- 1st on the Avs in hits/60 at 5v5;
- 1st in takeaways/60 at 5v5;
- Corsi of 56%
- over 57% on faceoffs;
- 6'3'' so can handle himself against big opponents;
His scoring hasn't been great obviously (0 points in 18) and you'd like that to be higher, but it's worth noting that his on-ice shot% is super low at 2.60% and his PDO is 92.5, both of which indicate that he's been unlucky. He's scoring at near-PPG pace in the AHL (28 points in 34 games) which suggests that there's plenty of skill there to contribute on the scoreboard at the NHL level more than he's done so far.
In my opinion he's outperformed Helm and possibly one or two others and he would already be a regular if it weren't for the fact that he's waiver exempt. I suspect that his performance thus far this season will enable Sakic to entertain moving Jost at the deadline, because as far as the metrics (and my admittedly imperfect eye-test) suggest he's absolutely ready to take that 4C job. The data is a small sample size though (i.e. 18 games), so that does add some risk admittedly.