Quote:
Originally Posted by N-E-B
I went with Arizona because they've been the most open about trading away their veterans. Buffalo is too, but I think Edmonton is just genuinely that bad.
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When Arizona traded Dubnyk (9-5-2 record) to the Wild you knew they were in full tank mode. That was pretty despicable.
I don't believe players purposely tank but I do believe management puts their teams in position to lose and coaching staffs can be prodded to ease off the gas pedal. After seeing the Sabres come through Alberta you can't tell me those guys are being coached to win anything. Looked like a bunch of guys hired to just go out and pretend they are NHL players. No system, no game plan, no effort. Pretty embarrassing.
My list:
Sabres - management in full tank mode and coach following orders not to coach.
Oilers - organization in full tank mode but the head coach is trying his best to make a case for becoming the full time head coach
Carolina - roster is such a mess of overpaid crap and young players being counted on to carry the mail. Have been garbage for a few years now and nothing has changed this year. Not tanking just really bad mix of players.
Arizona - management in full tank mode but Tippet is still trying but his system only works when the goaltending is good and the GM ensured there would be no good goaltending for the rest of the season.
Toronto - players have quit but I don't think management is tanking. I believe management has realized that this group isn't good enough and are going to blow things up this summer.
So at the end of the day there's three teams that are tanking for the picks. I fear things could really get ugly in March when teams start jockeying for the 29th and 30th spots.