Andrew Shaw has long been talked about more for the emotion he brings to the ice than for the play he creates on it.
When news broke of his trade to Montreal this off-season, his previous coach, Joel Quenneville mentioned missing Shaw’s versatility, that his “intangibles jump off the page.” Even before the trade, at the end of Chicago’s playoff run last season, Quenneville called Andrew Shaw an “irreplaceable” player, citing “his competitiveness, his willingness to find the dirty areas” and “the feistiness [...] he brings to every game.” Shaw’s former teammate, Jonathan Toews, made sure to mention Shaw’s “great presence in the room,” as well as his “energy, “always excited to be at the rink.