Alexander Steen, the 29-year-old forward for the St. Louis Blues, has never scored more than 24 goals in a season and has only topped 50 points once in his career.
All that will change this season.
Steen, who was drafted by Toronto in 2002 in the first round (24th overall), sits atop the NHL goal-scoring leader board where he is tied with Alexander Ovechkin with 20 goals on the season. At this rate, Steen is on pace to score 65 goals and tally more than 100 points – which would far exceed his previous career bests in both categories. In fact, only one player – Ovechkin – has scored more than 60 goals in a single season over the past 10 years. With players like Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos and Sidney Crosby all making appearances as Rocket Richard Trophy winners during that time, Steen finds himself in pretty good company at the moment simply being named alongside those players.
The interesting thing is that Steen seems to be doing nothing different this season to elevate his scoring levels. He isn’t seeing increased power play time, and his shots per game is still close to traditional career levels for him. The only difference is that the puck seems to be going in more often than not for Steen.
And now Steen, and the Blues, who are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games and currently occupy the third position in the Western Conference with 39 points, hope he can continue that pace. With 57 games remaining for Steen and the Blues, teams are starting to get wise to his act and will look to cover him more intensely – something that may already be happening. Steen has six goals over his last 10 games, compared to an average of a goal per game in the 10 games prior to that. But he has still managed to average a point per game in his last 10. Even if he’s not putting the puck in the net as often, he is still finding ways to be a valuable asset on offense for the Blues.
Regardless, Steen has emerged as an offensive threat for the Blues this season and he is on pace to shatter personal career best numbers in goals and assists. The team will look to him to continue to be an offensive provider as they move deeper into the season and look to undertake a successful playoff run.
