Another day and we have another player to discuss as a potential Pittsburgh Penguins target for free agency this summer. Today we shift our attention to Matt Beleskey of the Anaheim Ducks.
Beleskey had himself a career year in 2014-15 scoring 22 goals in 65 regular season games. His goal scoring ways have continued into the playoffs. At the time of writing this blog Beleskey has scored goals in Anaheim’s last five playoff games (one each game). Anaheim now awaits Chicago in the Western Conference Finals.
Players who score a lot in the regular season during contract years are always candidates to get paid well. Especially those who continue that success in the postseason.
Will Matt Beleskey’s 2014-15 season price him out of being a sensible target? What other parts of Beleskey’s game are worth talking about? Let’s look at his past production:
Nothing about this sample size screams consistent goal scorer. In fact, his 22 goals in 2014-15 matches his total of North American professional goals from the three prior seasons.
The reason for the jump in goal production?
His career shooting percentage of 9.9% is above average, but the jump to 15.2% this year seems a bit much. Sustainable? Unlikely.
This doesn’t take away from the kind of year he had in 2014-15 because his comparables are very favorable:
My concerns about Beleskey are in relation to his shooting percentage and his underlying possession metrics. If the shooting percentage drops is he still able to be a productive player?
The offensive production has been solid, but I do not see enough prior evidence for a team like Pittsburgh to confidently get into Beleskey’s potential price point.
In his NHL career Beleskey has earned a total of 5.95M. I believe he will make at least half that per year moving forward.
Is he a guy who has finally figured it out at 26 years of age? Should the Penguins buy his 2014-15 season as the norm moving forward?
I say perhaps to the first question and no to the second. Pittsburgh is not in a situation where they can invest in mid-tier players and be wrong. There is too much risk here.
Pittsburgh will have to keep searching in other areas to improve their depth. This is a bad risk/reward scenario.
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