Player Preview: Paul Postma

Paul Postma is an enigma. After flirting with locking down a roster spot following a great AHL career, Postma faced various injuries and was passed on the depth chart by Zach Redmond.

Postma still received a two-year contract and Cheveldayoff seems to be banking on the fact that Postma could be an offensive blueliner in the future, following seasons of 29, 45 and 44 in the AHL.

Postma is no longer an NHL prospect at the age of 25, so this season will determine if he has a future in the NHL. It’s expected that Postma will be in the 5/6/7 spot battling with Grant Clitsome and Adam Pardy for ice time.

Postma has posted decent possession numbers while playing sheltered minutes at the NHL level, and after his best season during the lockout-shortened year, it looked as if Postma was ready to compete for a top-four job with the Jets. Instead, Postma got injured and lost his spot to Zach Redmond. Redmond bolted and signed a deal with the Colorado Avalanche so Postma’s chances to seize a regular spot jumped to another barrier.

The Calgary Hitmen alumni will likely get some time on the second power play unit that will employ the likes of Mark Scheifele and Andrew Ladd (considering Little, Wheeler and Kane are on the first unit) so Postma could see a career year in points.

Last year is one that Postma would like to forget considering he only played 20 games and scored three points which would only translate into 12 points over a full season, but it’s hard to judge a season that was filled with injury troubles.

Like I mentioned earlier, Postma should flirt with career highs if he plays a full season, and the number he needs to reach is only 10, although the lockout shortened season would have pro-rated into 21 points.

If Josh Morrissey makes the team out of camp over Adam Pardy and Keaton Ellerby, Postma may not see time on the power play. Dustin Byfuglien will start the season as a forward, but it’s not unlikely that he finds himself on the point at times. Jacob Trouba and Tobias Enstrom are also great offensive defensemen so Postma’s chances of producing on the power play, or even getting time on the power play may be limited.

Coming off an injury-riddled season, it’s hard to stay completely healthy. I’m assuming that Postma will plain in 58 games and score 4-15-19. I find that reasonable for a player with his history.

1.    
Is Postma’s NHL job up for grabs?

In short yes. It may not entirely be Postma’s
fault because of his injuries, but the Jets have plenty of defenders who could
steal his job in camp. Postma and Pardy are the most likely to lose their
position in the top seven defenders to depth signings like Keaton Ellerby and
Julien Brouillette or youngsters Josh Morrissey and Brenden Kichton. It’s due
or die for the 25-year-old. 

2.    
Is Postma too injury prone?

I’ve made my stance known about how hard it
is to shed the injury prone label. Just ask Ales Hemsky, Dave Bolland, and
Joffrey Lupul. The most alarming part is having injury troubles in your first
three years in the big leagues. Well, this is officially year three of Postma’s
full NHL career and he’s been injured in the first two years of his career.
Postma needs to stay reasonably healthy throughout the year to even attempt to
shed the label.

3.    
Can Postma be a steal for fantasy hockey players?

As an addicted fantasy hockey poolie, I’m
always excited to try and pick that one guy who nobody has really heard of to
shock my opponents. It’s almost more satisfying than winning the pool in it’s
entirety. I picked Tarasenko in his rookie year as my last forward and was able
to deal him early in the year to acquire Eric Staal. Yes that happened.
Anyways, a guy like Postma is an interesting pick in REALLY LATE rounds if you
have a large amount of poolies. Postma scored 84 points in his last junior
season and scored 45 points in the AHL. He could surprise for 30 points and be
a nice steal in a final round. Don’t bother though if you only need to draft
four defensemen.