Angelo Esposito is Not Jordan Staal But....

Okay. I'll admit it. It was nice to go back to rooting for my Pens. And by this, of course, I mean, rooting for the precipitious falls of 2 talented teenage prospects, both of whom, for a variety of reasons, were ultimately drafted lower than where they were projected to be drafted.

Had I been live-blogging the draft, my in-the-moment thoughts would have been something like, "Drop, drop, drop, drop, drop," and "Please don't pick the players they keep showing on the TV." While I had a feeling the Rangers wouldn't let a talented Russian scare them off, I was still hoping that a natural wing, and a goal scorer, to boot, would be available for my Pens to snatch at 20. Alas, Cherepanov is now property of the New York Rangers, may have the chance to play on the same team as his idol, and Penguins' fans are spared another Evgeni-Malkinesque escape-from-Russia saga. (Not that I would have objected to the saga considering the talent of the player in question.)

To resume the thoughts of my live-blogging that wasn't, after the Rangers snagged Cherepanov, it was just countdown until number twenty. Since the TSN cameras would not leave Angelo Esposito alone, well, neither could I. At least not in my mind. My absolutely articulate thoughts of "Drop, drop, drop!" continued even as I watched other players get picked, even as I knew that Esposito was not a Brian Burke-type player. And then the announcers who asked, "Could he be lucky enough to have Pittsburgh take him?" And, of course, what I later read about how the team searched frantically for nameplate but didn't have one. But who really cared about a nameplate when your team gets a player at 20 that they had expected to go much higher? Really, I was too delighted to care. I had rooted for something to happen, for my team to "win," so to speak, the chance to draft Esposito, and they had. That was nice.

After my excitement at snagging a player whose talent had him ranked as the consensus #1 overall pick just a year ago, I began to wonder about Esposito. How had he fallen from a consensus first overall pick to being available for the Penguins to grab in the 20th spot? And more than just wondering about Esposito's "freefall," I wondered what it might be reasonable to expect of him. And thus began the googling, which led to a few conclusions, which are summarized by the title of this post.

Angelo Esposito is not Jordan Staal. Angelo Esposito is not Jordan Staal. Repeat. Nor is Angelo Esposito Evgeni Malkin. Angelo Esposito is certainly not Sidney Crosby, a player to whom he was once, ridiculously, ludicrously, outlandishly, and too early compared. No. Angelo Esposito is Angelo Esposito, and that means, well--what does that mean?

Before dealing with Esposito, let's deal with the people who heaped unrealistic and some would say absurd expectations upon the kid. He spent his rookie year in the Q playing with another player who starred in the Q. He was the Q's Rookie of the Year and won the Memorial Cup as a rookie. Not too shabby a debut. And at this point, the hoopla started. Ridiculous hoopla. Esposito this, Esposito that. He was a talented kid, a year (ONE year) removed from playing high school prep hockey, but suddenly he was supposed to be the second coming of Sidney Crosby (a once-in-a-GENERATION-talent). And not only that, he was supposed to be the best player on the defending Memorial Cup champions, a team that was supposed to stay great no matter the loss of talented players to the ranks of the NHL teams that drafted them. Worse than that, probably, this kid played on a team coached by Patrick Roy. While Roy is one of the best goalies in NHL history, to say that he is fiery and eccentric would be a vast understatement. Playing under Roy is going to be a challenge any day of the week, no matter his legitimately great NHL playing experience.

And then came this season. And the scouts poked holes wherever they could find holes. It wasn't like Esposito wasn't helping them out--he got cut from Canada's World Junior team. He didn't put up the stats he'd put up in his rookie season. He couldn't carry his team on his own. And his team got booted in the first round of the playoffs. And those "questions" surrounded him. Was he too soft? Could he carry a team on his own? Was he too selfish? Did he use his linemates well enough?

Before going into more detail about what might be reasonably expected of Esposito, let's talk about reasonable expectations for the team, media, and fans. Let's not make the same mistake everyone did a year ago when they began to heap ridiculous, absurd expectations upon Esposito. Let's make sure not to make that mistake. And let's consider what some of our unreasonable expectations might be.


Unreasonable Expectation/Comparison 1:Sidney Crosby played and starred in the NHL at age eighteen. So if Sidney could do it....

Counterpoint: No, no, and can I say a very emphatic NO just one more time? Sidney Crosby also broke Mario Lemieux's rookie points scoring record. Esposito is surely not going to do that.


Unreasonable Expectation/Comparison 2: While Esposito might not be ready now, he might be ready to do in two years something like what Malkin did this year.

Counterpoint: No, no, and no. Malkin spent time playing in the Russian Elite League against men. Sure, Malkin had (and still must continue) to adjust his game and learn the English language. But the Russian Elite League could very well be the second best hockey league in the entire world. Being trained while playing against men is very different than playing against boys in the QMJHL.


Unreasonable Expectation/Comparison 3: Nobody really expected Jordan Staal to do what he did last year. And while Staal wasn't Crosby, or even as offensively flashy as Malkin, he still stepped in as an eighteen-year-old and took a regular shift. Why couldn't we expect Esposito to "surprise" us and do something similar?

Counterpoint: Jordan Staal was already six foot four and two hundred twenty pounds. Despite his age, Staal's precocious physical development was definitely a factor that enabled him to transition easily to the NHL game. Likewise, Staal had been utilized the previous year by Peterborough Petes' coach Dick Todd primarily in a defensive role--in other words, part of the reason Staal had such a phenomenal rookie season was due to his on-ice defensive awareness.


Of all the unreasonable expectations that could be foisted upon on Esposito by the organization, the media, and the fans, it's perhaps the comparison to Staal that concerns me the most. The organization surely knows how exceptional Crosby is and how Malkin is still a world-class talent. The media and fans, when they're minding their manners and using common sense, likewise seem aware that Crosby is unique and Malkin is slightly less special than Crosby. The most dangerous viewpoint, for the organization, fans, and media, seems to be expecting that Esposito could be able to transition the way Staal did.

Two things about Esposito must be noted, neither of which, necessarily, are anything that time and development can't heal. Esposito is six foot one and a hundred and eighty pounds. In other words, weight-wise, he's small for the NHL at the moment. He needs to fill out and add muscle mass, hardly an incurable problem, but not one necessarily solved in a summer's time. Secondly, Jordan Staal played for the Peterborough Petes under legendary coach Dick Todd. Dick Todd knew how to coach and develop junior players. Patrick Roy has proved he is one of the finest NHL goalies in NHL history, but he has yet to prove anything in terms of DEVELOPING (not just coaching) junior players. Staal had the benefit of excellent and experienced junior coaching and precocious physical development, and both benefits were major factors as to why Staal was able to end the 2006-07 season as a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate. Let me repeat, once again, that Angelo Esposito is NOT Jordan Staal. Esposito had the chance to play under a NHL Hall-of-Famer, but not an expert and seasoned junior coach. And as far as physical development goes, Esposito's weight has yet to fill out to match his height, at least by NHL standards--and Jordan Staal was already among the biggest men in the league last season.

Perhaps because of the heavy expectations and labels that burdened Esposito for the past year, I am leery of expecting him to stick for the 2007-08 season. I am leery that the Pens' organization might erreneously believe that another talented 18-year-old with the potential to be a star one day could step right in and skate a regular shift at age 18. Though for the most part I trust Ray Shero (until he proves he should not deserve my trust), I'm more frightened still for the expectations that might be heaped upon Esposito by the media and the Pittsburgh fanbase. If the Pens' think they just found Sidney Crosby a winger, and Esposito sticks but scores 11 goals and 15 assists while playing on the third and fourth lines, well, how is he going to compare to the rookie sensations fans and the media have grown accustomed to over the past couple of seasons?

Now, of course, Shero is right when he says that coming to Pittsburgh might be the perfect place for Esposito. He can skate like the wind, play with lots of young, talented players, and never have to be "the guy" on his team. And, to some degree, if the team is successful, and Esposito shows development as a player, well, the fact that he's probably not going to be another Pittsburgh Calder Trophy nominee will just have to be something fans and the media get over.

So, to summarize a lengthy, rambling post: Esposito should not be expected to make the team next season. At this juncture, provided he's not ridiculously out of his league, I see no harm in a few-game NHL cup of coffee, at the start of the season, provided he will help the team win games (which must be a consideration with a team now expected to make the playoffs). I agree with fans who've stated that they'd like to see Esposito spend as much time as possible with Crosby, Roberts, et. al to adjust whatever real or imagined "issues" he may have. Frankly speaking, I'd rather have him spend as much time as possible with Coach Michel Therrien rather than Coach Patrick Roy (but that's another post for another time, perhaps to be expanded upon later in the long, summer months). But if Esposito comes to camp and isn't ready, well, don't freak out. He's eighteen, a kid, and eighteen-year-olds, save for ones not named Crosby, Jordan Staal, and Jaromir Jagr, tend to need a few more years before they're NHL-ready.

But the thing that had Ray Shero, other fans, and me, screaming in our heads such inarticulate nonsense as "Drop, drop, drop, to us, please!" is that Esposito, like Crosby, Malkin, and Staal before him, shares the trait that you look for when you draft. It's called "upside." Had the Pens been picking closer to the top of the draft, they would have had more than "one short" interview with Esposito. They might have learned what caused other teams to back off, or they might have learned about his upside. And, drafting at 20, you have to go with upside.

And that's the exciting thing. A part of me seriously hopes Esposito can stick in the NHL next year because it's always fun when scary young talent gets joined by still younger talent (and also because I'd rather have Esposito a part of the Pens' team than spend another year with his QMJHL team and coach, but again, another topic for another time). Another part of me hopes that if the kid, as is true of most-eighteen-year-olds, just isn't ready, that the organization does what's best for him. I hope the organization can wait a few years before, perhaps, he can play a supporting role on a team that, by then, should be a legitimate Cup contender.

But let's cut the kid a break, and ourselves a break, too. He's not Crosby. He's not Malkin. He's not Staal. And we don't want him to be. We've already got Crosby, Malkin, and Staal. What Pens should want is for Angelo Esposito to be Angelo Esposito....and let's wait and see what his "upside" ultimately becomes without ridiculously comparing him to the three out-of-this-world rookies we've been blessed to watch in the span of the past two years.

And if Esposito shocks me, the way Jordan Staal shocked most of us last season, well and good, fair and square, who's going to complain? Only the teams who passed on drafting him.

But, in the more likely scenario that when we watch Esposito, we see flaws or traits that caused him to drop in his draft year (almost a reverse of how Jordan Staal ascended in his draft class), let's just enjoy continuing to watch a Calder Trophy winner and 2 Calder Trophy nominees (one of whom, not incidentally, now has a Hart, Art Ross, and Pearson) without freaking out if our 20th overall pick isn't yet ready to be a Calder Trophy nominee at age 18, 19, or even 20. Let Angelo Esposito be Angelo Esposito, and let's see what happens.