Absolutely, it’s the blessing and the curse of pass/fail.  I could easily see giving him the rating you did because I think you’re absolutely right about his inability to consistently create offense (which is a 2nd-line Center’s primary job).  I don’t think we’re very far away in opinion on Filppula’s value.

At least you didn’t say something outlandish like “trade him to another team because I know he’d be a first-line center anywhere else and playing under Datsyuk and Zetterberg is holding him back.” 

Man… wouldn’t that be ridiculous if somebody said that?

Not disagreeing with either of these points and I probably did overlook his defensive contributions a bit. That said, I think alot of us have felt that he’s a solid defensive player and maybe I’m just guilty of taking advantage of that assumption here. 

If Flip is the regular 3rd line center, I’m going apeshit over his year and giving him passing numbers across the board. But for a guy who is the de-facto 2nd line center, his “two-way” game needs a bit more consistency, which can only be gained on the attack, IMO.

 Not to toot my own horn here, but Flip’s CSSI numbers bear this out.  He had an total of +36.5 in the adjustment category, putting him behind only Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Helm for defensive rankings among forwards for the Wings this season.

in summary:
Flip on offense: Fail
Flip on Defense: Pass
Overall: Pass (barely)

I hate to do it because I like Valtteri Filppula possibly more than I should, but Hollis’ line about lack of consistency rings true.  I’ve passed on expectations that Filppula is going to be the Red Wings’ next top-flight scorer and I’ve come to expect solid 2nd-line minutes where he meshes well with whomever his linemates are on any given night while making a positive difference in the flow of the game.

I think he did that this season.

Unfortunately, there comes a time in Filppula’s career where simply “looking good” is not good enough.  Despite being defensively good, a good passer, and very effective at making space for his linemates, we’ve gotten to the point where his contributions need to come in the form of more points and during the regular season, he regressed.

Detroit scored 34 more goals this season than they did during the injury-plagued hell that was the previous year.  While Filppula was part of that injury parade in playing only 55 games, his 35 points in that span gave him an excellent 0.64 points-per-game clip.  This year in 71 games, that rate stat fell to 0.55.  While that still makes for the 2nd-best per-game pace he’s put up in his career, it’s a step backward.

However, the idea of scoring big points when big points matter came alive.  Valtteri Filppula is clutch in ways that many teams wish their higher-paid guys would be (*cough* Alex Semin *cough*).