This edition will clear some more Akwesasne players out, leaving us with just 2 more in the next part before we move on to the Barons.
Pierre Dagenais
Stats: 33 y/o Right Wing; 23 GP, 26 G, 28 A, 54 Pts, +10
Thoughts: Absolute ringer for the Warriors at the beginning of the season before he signed a Euro contract and disappeared. Conveniently returned to the US the week before playoffs started to post 9 points in 4 games. NHL and KHL experience over the course of the last 7+ seasons.
Verdict: As far as I'm concerned, somebody of that talent and experience level has no place playing in a class A league. You don't see the Capitals sending Ovechkin down to Hershey to ring a few games out when they need points. Must be nice to have money; he'll be back.
Ahmed Mahfouz
Stats: 22 y/o Left Wing; 34 GP, 21 G, 39 A, 60 Pts, +21
Thoughts: A CHL veteran, Mahfouz is one of the few players who seems to have a dumbfounding ability to wrack up equally as many penalties as points. 148 PIMs to 60 points, in 34 games, is pretty impressive. Also a huge asset on the powerplay, contributing 10 assists and 2 more in the playoffs, as well as 15 points in 8 games there.
Verdict: Somehow, Mahfouz seems to be able to do it all. There's no doubt at all that he stays around. With numbers in that many categories, he'd be every fantasy hockey player's greatest wish come true.
Pat Deraspe
Stats: 37 y/o Center; 36 GP, 21 G, 40 A, 61 Pts, +8
Thoughts: Akwesasne's oldest player also wound up being its points leader. Playing hockey for the last 20 years enabled Deraspe to bring a veteran presence to the Warriors team, and he matched the point production of other star players to boot. Almost head to head with Mahfouz for ratio of points to high PIMs. Deraspe also contributes very effectively on the powerplay, tallying 4 goals and 11 assists on the advantage this past season. 3 shorties isn't a bad number either.
Verdict: The captain stays.
David Plouffe
Stats: 28 y/o Goaltender; 30 GP, 21-8-1, .892 pct, 4.16 GAA
Thoughts: Plouffe led the team in net, logging 1716 minutes played and winning 21 of his 30 games. Statistically, he was 6th in goals against and 5th in save percentage amongst goalies in the entire league. From what I've gathered, he plays a fundamentally sound game and isn't a liability. In fact, he has a surprising win percentage for such dismal personal stats, which are another strong indicator of Akwesasne's defensively reckless style of hockey.
Verdict: He shouldered the vast majority of the Warriors' load in net and took them to the Cup, so I've no concerns about his return. Pretty sure he'd like help getting rid of a few incoming pucks this season though.
Travis Stacey
Stats: 20 y/o Left Wing; 8 GP, 4 G, 5 A, 9 Pts, -8
Thoughts: Stacey came on toward the end of the season, primarily to fill the tough guy role. At 6'4 and 245 pounds, he'd be pretty high up there on my not-to-mess-with list. Coincidentally, put up a point per game in the process, including 3 points on the man advantage. Still very young in his career and can only go up from here on out. He joins the increasing number of Akwesasne players that seem to be able to post a lot of numbers in every column simultaneously.
Verdict: 8 games wasn't a lot of time to see if he really clicked, but as a player he has a lot of potential and the Warriors made the right move in locking him up to make sure he develops wearing their colors.
More in a little bit...
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