Remember Tyler Kennedy? Sure you do. He played for the Sharks for 92 games from 2013-15 and scored just 26 points, making him a much maligned member of the Team Teal Alumni Group. A similar malaise surrounds Matt Nieto, a player whose possession numbers are excellent but doesn’t score much.
These guys don’t sell many jerseys in the NHL and are often replaced in the lineup by players who offer equally “intangible” contributions. In other words, Nieto has been scratched while Micheal Haley has played in part because they make a similar dent on the scoresheet.
That’s woefully misguided and undersells what players like Nieto and Kennedy are capable of.