When Marc Bergevin acquired Andrew Shaw last summer, he was likely hoping that Shaw would have another gear offensively in him. That didn’t happen last year but will his second season in Montreal yield more production?
2016-2017
Shaw didn’t exactly make the greatest first impression. Through his first 30 games, he had almost as many misconduct penalties as he did goals and his propensity for taking untimely penalties was a problem more often than anyone would have liked.
However, he did get better as the season progressed, at least in some areas. He held his own when switching to play down the middle while he cut down considerably on the bad penalties in the second half. Unfortunately for him and the Canadiens, he never really got going offensively, a trend that carried over into the playoffs.
Season Stats: 68 GP, 12 goals, 17 assists, 29 points, +4 rating, 110 PIMS, 1 PPG, 1 GWG, 127 shots, 15:12 ATOI
Playoff Stats: 5 GP, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 points, -2 rating, 7 PIMS, 0 PPG, 0 GWG, 13 shots, 15:02 ATOI
Five Year Averages
(Because of the lockout-shortened season, we are pro-rating all of 2012-13’s numbers over a full 82 game season.)
GP: 77
Goals: 15
Assists: 15
Points: 30
+/-: +6
PIMS: 77
PPG: 4
GWG: 2
Shots: 137
2017-18 Role
Last season, there were discussions as to whether or not Shaw could be a top-six forward for the Habs. That isn’t the case now. If Jonathan Drouin lines up on his off-wing as he has in the past, he’ll be the top line option while Brendan Gallagher will also be ahead of him on the depth chart. That means Shaw could be battling Ales Hemsky for third line ice time and considering Hemsky’s not a prototypical fourth liner, Shaw could wind up in that spot by default, at least to start.
As always, there will be injuries so Shaw will be in line to move up when those occur. It will also be interesting to see if he spends time at centre once again depending on whether Alex Galchenyuk or Jonathan Drouin stick at that spot. If they don’t, Shaw could be bumped up accordingly.
Projected Stats
While the offseason is often the time to be optimistic about players having breakout seasons, it’s hard to foresee that happening here with Shaw as he has been knocked down a peg or two on the depth chart. It’s hard to imagine him averaging 15 minutes a game when everyone is healthy and even finding power play time could be a stretch.
Given his penchant for penalties and his physical play, Shaw could still carry some fantasy value in deeper leagues that count PIMS and hits as stat categories. However, in leagues that are primarily just points-based, he’s not worth drafting but if circumstances force him into the top-six for any prolonged period of time, he might be worth a flyer off the waiver wire.
GP: 80
Goals: 10
Assists: 14
Points: 24
+/-: +5
PIMS: 84
PPG: 1
GWG: 2
Shots: 131