Quote:
Originally Posted by devo22
Is it possible that they suffer from a bit of a country club atmosphere (hate the term, but can't think of a more apt description)? They have signed several big names to long big-money contracts (Parise, Suter, Vanek, Pominville) after all and at least a couple of those probably just wanted to live in Minnesota more than anything else (I know that Vanek did, for example). Actually love a lot of their young talent and thought that team would be great this year. Maybe I'm totally wrong about the vets, but it's certainly possible.
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I can see that. Parise and Suter commented recently about how glad they were that they picked Minny in light of their fathers (in the sense that they got to spend more time with their dads as a result).
This team is extremely thin at center, and you just can't be that way in today's NHL. That's a problem. I think the defense is overall better than they've played this season. Yeah, the 3rd pair is weak, but that's not the end of the world, nor is it that uncommon.
Goaltending is an issue. They had Kuemper slotted into the AHL this season, until Harding kicked that wall. So it's encouraging that maybe they knew he wasn't ready for full-time NHL duty yet. But now he and Backstrom are still under contract (one-way, and both would be exposed to waivers, plus Bax has a NMC), and if they come back next season with those two there will be riots in St. Paul.