In extending Alexander Steen for three years, did the St. Louis Blues shrewdly lock down an elite sniper, or get themselves stuck with a $5.8 million 25-goal winger? Though currently second to Alexander Ovechkin in league goal scoring, Steen's previous eight-season best is just 24 goals. Will the Blues get value out of this deal?
Answering that question is a lot tougher than it appears. Not only does it require projecting his future performance, but it also requires assigning a dollar value to that prediction. That feat would be difficult enough for one of the league's most consistent players, let alone for a player whose scoring spiked completely out of the blue (no pun intended).
Steen's scoring will obviously regress over the next three years, but not necessarily all the way down to 25 goals per season. Based on similar players throughout history, and even his own past, we can estimate just how much we can expect his scoring to slide.
Even after projecting his scoring, assigning a price tag is a controversial matter, even in the emotionless world of analytics. Even if we set aside bigg ...
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Article written by Rob Vollman
Will Alexander Steen Live Up to His Contract Extension with St. Louis Blues?
December 22nd, 2013 by Rob Vollman Leave a reply »
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