Patrick Eaves: A Year in Review
By Jordan Dix
Throughout the offseason, Blackout Dallas will be doing season reviews on individual players and how their season played out. Reviews that have been done thus far include Jamie Benn, Jordie Benn, Trevor Daley, Jason Demers and Cody Eakin. Now we get a closer look at one of last summer’s additions, Patrick Eaves.
Sparking the Powerplay
On a Dallas Stars team that was filled to the brim with talent such as Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky and John Klingberg, perhaps nobody had a greater impact on the powerplay than Patrick Eaves. He scored six powerplay goals which was tied for third on the team. He didn’t even make many appearances on the powerplay until he returned from a fractured ankle on January 27th against Montreal. He scored a powerplay goal that night and ignited a struggling part of the Stars game. In fact, since Eaves became a regular on the powerplay on January 27th, the Stars scored the most powerplay goals in the entire NHL. They scored 30 powerplay goals in the 36 games between January 27th and April 11th. Before that, they had 25 goals in 46 games. He was committed to being a net-front presence, as evident by his two injuries in which he took point shots to the ankle and the head. Patrick Eaves was a warrior out front time and time again. Along with John Klingberg, Eaves really helped turn around a struggling powerplay unit.
Thriving Everywhere
Patrick Eaves of this season was much like Rich Peverley last season. You could put him just about anywhere in the lineup and see him succeed. He played on the top line with Benn and Seguin. He saw some good games playing with Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky. We already know of his powerplay success this season. He played the same game no matter what line he was on this year and he excelled at it. His 54.23 corsi-for-% at even strength was good for 6th on the team and 4th among forwards. Only Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin had more points-per-60 minutes than Patrick Eaves. He played the game the right way for the Stars and became exactly what they needed him to be. One more interesting statistic on Eaves. He was out of the lineup three times this season, twice due to injury and one healthy scratch. In the three games he came back from those absences, he scored a goal in each of them. How did Eaves compare to some other Dallas forwards?
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Compared to the four forwards who were stapled in the top-6 all season, Eaves held is own quite impressively. Not many Stars fans will argue that Eaves wasn’t a better player than Ales Hemsky this season. Patrick Eaves exceeded expectations and then some for the Stars.
Final Thoughts on Patrick Eaves
Jim Nill needs to get Patrick Eaves a new contract as soon as possible. His play this season has earned him at least another year or two and he still likely wouldn’t be an expensive player to have on the roster. The only question mark is his ability to stay in the lineup. Through no real fault of his own, he was injured twice this season for lengthy time periods. He does have a pretty extensive injury history, especially when it comes to concussions. His injury history may be one of the only hangups in receiving a new contract in Dallas, aside from other teams that could certainly use his production. If Dallas isn’t able to bring him back, look for a team like the Pittsburgh Penguins to pick him up. Any team that needs a depth-scoring winger who can fill in the top-6 will certainly be giving Patrick Eaves a look in the offseason.