Mario Ferraro

Last Season

Seven goals and 23 points in all 82 games, minus-one, on twenty-one minutes a night. Seven goals is a career high and the plus-minus is the first non-negative of his career, which says more about his previous employer than about any change in him.

The Finesse Game

Modest. Twenty-four goals in 490 career games, no power-play role, and a first pass that is safe rather than creative. He gets the puck out and does not attempt the play that turns into a rush against.

The skating is good and it has to be — it is what lets a defenceman his size defend against real competition.

The Physical Game

Five-eleven and 200, and he plays much bigger. He blocks an enormous number of shots, finishes checks, and battles in front of his own net against forwards with four inches on him. It is a hard way to play and he has done it every night for seven years.

The Intangibles

He was the most-used defenceman on a rebuilding club for several seasons, which is a punishing assignment that tends to make a player look worse than he is. In a proper role, with a proper partner, he looks like exactly what he is: a solid second-pairing defenceman.

At twenty-eight, the mileage is the only worry. Nothing about his game will decline suddenly except the body’s willingness to keep blocking shots.