Wouldn't that be Smith-Pelly?
He sorta fits the bill but he's actually a little smaller size wise. I was more meaning instead of Connolly, who in my opinion continually gets miscast as a third line scorer when he far too often plays like Andre Burakovsky or other smaller sized skill guys. Him playing with Eller and DSP often leads to him not going to the net, and playing circle while the other too push the goalie. Even when Conolly goes to the net his size/skills don't really fit him for that kind of role.
My big issue with DSP isn't his size it's his puck posession skills. He's not awful mind you, just not a stand out. And if any team is smart when you look at a line like that you realize all the good momentum comes from Eller, much like it used to when Backstrom was forced to carry Ovie and Semin for example. Shut down the guy who posesses the puck and your golden. Notice when Backstrom plays with Oshie that line continually has solid puck posession. Because Oshie and Nick can handle the biscuit and keep the puck while the linemates either cycle or get to the net.
It's a shame pricing scenarios and aging had to lose us out on Joel Ward. But to me he's the type of player I would rather see playing more with Eller. A guy who wins all the board battles, keeps the puck alive, and then goes to the net and has a knack for playoff scoring.
