Greg Pateryn was supposed to be just another guy; one of those prizefighters in boxing called a “professional loser” — fighters whose role is to be invisible. You can win all you’d like, but lose when you’re supposed to.
There’s no use making this about anyone other than Pateryn, and so I won’t (not until paragraph eight or nine anyway; well, that and the poll). On the ice, Pateryn was legitimately a solid defensemen for Dallas this season.
Drawing from Natural Stat Trick (as usual), his role as a shutdown defenseman was well-earned.