Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80
Yeah, you gotta like how Zito recognized their lack of depth on D and zeroed in on that in the offseason. Their third pair against the Pens last game was Ekman-Larsson and Kulikov.
Edit: I mean, they were without Ekblad and Montour for the entire first month of the season, but they're still sitting 2nd in the East and top three in all 5v5 metrics.
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Ekman-Larsson has 9 goals and 25 points. That's his highest goal total in 5 years. His play early when both Montour and Ekblad were out is the single biggest reason the team was in a decent position when they returned.
Evan Rodrigues has also been a nice pickup, and fit in quite well. Even someone like Kevin Stenlund (who?) has been quite valuable this year in a bottom 6 and PK role.
Zito has a really good eye for talent that could flourish in his team's identity. I'm impressed by his ability to team build from scraps.