With the addition of Erik Condra to the Lightning roster, one thing fans likely aren’t certain on is what the Bolts have gotten in the 28 year old right wing. B_T from Silver Seven Sens offered us a few words on Condra to give a perspective on the player.
“One thing to get out of the way right off – he’s not going to light it up, and certain segments of the fan base will dump on him for it. He would likely come last (or close to) in an accuracy contest for any NHL roster. Don’t make “Condra misses on a breakaway” a drinking game rule – just don’t.
“He is the kind of player who can make players around him better, and there was probably no better defensive forward on the Senators than him. When he was finally given consistent line-mates in Ottawa, that line became one of the most fun to watch and it absolutely feasted on most of the 3rd and 4th line competition it saw. It helped that he had a speedy line-mate that could jump up with him when he made a rush.
“Even against the top competition in the league, he did well in the possession game. He posted positive Corsi against the likes of Sidney Crosby, John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, Alex Ovechkin, etc as a bottom-6 player. Often numbers well into the positives too, albeit in small sample sizes. His defensive play is a great help on the penalty kill as well.
“Bottom line is if you pay attention to advanced stats or defensive play, you’re probably going to love him as a bottom 6 player. If you just look at offensive output or highlight reels, you’re probably going to consider him a waste of space anywhere in your lineup. Personally, I’m incredibly frustrated with Murray for letting him walk for the contract that Yzerman signed him to.”
For the sake of saying so, Ryan Classic chimed in regarding Condra when asked via Twitter. He reinforced some of what you just saw above in B.T.’s summarization:
@Johnny_Fonts Incredible bottom-six possession numbers. Fast. Versatile. Kills penalties. Steal at that price. We’re ANGRY over here.
— Ryan Classic (@ryanclassic) July 1, 2015
@Johnny_Fonts Just don’t expect offence. You’ve never been less excited by breakaways and they happen so often. Stone hands.
— Ryan Classic (@ryanclassic) July 1, 2015
There are questions to take from the addition of Condra to the lineup – like who gets displaced? Tampa Bay has 5 right-wings on the roster at this point (Ryan Callahan, Condra, Jonathan Drouin, Nikita Kucherov and J.T. Brown) with the fact Steven Stamkos was playing out-of-position at right-wing on the #1 line during the playoffs (centered by Valtteri Filppula).
The displaced member of the roster might be on the left wing, which is also overstocked with players (Alex Killorn, Jonathan Marchessault, Ondrej Palat, and Cedric Paquette). There’s going to be plenty of time trying to figure out the roster for this upcoming season, though… in the end, it’ll all work itself out.
