Marco Scandella's playing days are in the books. And while he wasn't around for the St. Louis Blues 2019 Stanley Cup, but he was one of the most reliable blueliners in the following seasons. Scandella never put up all-world numbers during his time wearing the Blue Note, but he made a greater impact than his numbers suggest.
Look at his stat line and you'll see that, through 215 games with the Blues, Scandella put up a measly nine goals and 34 points. But he finished with a plus-39 rating, which is a remarkable number regardless of how you feel about plus-minus.
When you look at his even strength metrics, Scandella finished with just a 43.7 Corsi For Percentage, but his 11.3 on-ice shooting percentage shows off his sheer impact. He was on the ice for a solid 156 goals for at even strength and, as you could expect, did his job in the defensive zone, with a 92.8 on-ice save percentage.
Marco Scandella was quietly reliable during his time with the St. Louis Blues
All of the above numbers shows off reliability, and it drives home the point that you don't need to be a big-time points producer to help your team score often when you're on the ice. That's what made Scandella one of the better players out there to watch, and while he won't see himself listed in many Blues record books, there's a chance he'll go down as one of the fan favorites of the early 2020s.
Scandella never 'wowed' anywhere in his previous stops, the bulk of which he played in Minnesota. He finished his stint with the Wild with 89 points and 27 goals in 373 games, before moving on to Buffalo, then Montreal, before finally landing in Arch City.
His most productive season came with the Wild when he ended up with 23 points and 11 goals in 64 games. Scandella also played in all 82 contests just once during his career, which came with the Sabres during the 2017-18 season.
Overall, Scandella was one of those guys willing to do all the dirty work to make the teams he played for better, something he exemplified during his days in St. Louis. We'll see if Scandella gets into any NHL front offices, or if he works with the league in any capacity.