2008 Final Grade: C-
2007 Grade: C
Links:
{{skrastins}} (hockey-reference page)
2008 ITCS (aka highly unofficial) game log
Season Stats: 43gp 1g 3a 4pt -2
Minutes: 775.6 (6th among D), EV 15:24, PP :05, PK 2:33, ATOI 18:02
1st Half: 25gp 1g 2a 3pt E
2nd Half: 18gp 0g 1a 1pt -2
Best Month: December (15gp 0g 2a 2pt +2)
Linemates: Clark (26), Sauer (7), Liles (3), Hannan (2), Leopold (1), Cumiskey (1), Finger (1) plus 2 games as a forward / extra defenseman
Season: His 2 game rookie season notwithstanding, Skrastins set career lows in assists (3), points (5) and ATOI (18:36) (all those numbers include his time with Florida). Skrastins' 60 gp was just 1 more than his career low of 59 in 1999-2000.
Report: It wasn't long ago that Skrastins was one of my favorite defensemen on the Avs, but Skrastins play has really slipped. Somewhere along the way he developed a terrible habit of getting himself out of position to chase down a puck carrier, and it's killed his game. He has an incredible knack of being able to make his partner look bad by drawing them out of position to cover for his wandering. After playing in his 487th consecutive games, his body started to break down a bit this year with two knee injuries and a shoulder injury putting him on the shelf at different times. Perhaps those injuries were a factor in his severe drop in shot blocking. Last year, Skrastins blocked shots at a rate of 2.8 per game. This year, he had just 61 blocks in 43 games with the Avs - a 1.4 per game average. When you don't do many of the other things on defense well, a huge drop in your bread and butter is a killer. Curiously, he seemed to rebound after being dealt to the Panthers, as he averaged 2.6 per game with them after the trade. Not surprisingly, Skrastins ice time was down this year, from over 21 minutes a game to 18 a game. Most of that drop came on the PK, when Skrastins dropped from 4:13 a game to 2:33. Statistically, though, Skrastins was one of the better killers this year after being the worst the previous season (4.38 goals allowed / 60 compared to 9.18 in '07).
Fast Fact: The NHL's Ironman for defensemen played in just 60 games this year thanks to injuries and poor performane. Skrastins' top streak with the Avs this year was just 15 games (December 1st - December 31st)
2007-2008 Salary (and Cap Number): $2,400,000 (same)
2008-2009 Status: Skrastins was traded to Florida at the deadline in the deal for Ruslan Salei. Yay.
Outlook: Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday...and he ain't never coming back.