Quote:
Originally Posted by Badgers Nose
I think Calgary could use a Perron type player until we develop our own agitator. Perron is a PITA to play against, no? Maybe I am thinking of someone else.
That does not preclude making a trade for a 1-2 line RW. IMO this team needs a real tough power RW that can play on either top two lines. Like a Lucic or Kane.
On the first line, that is a dimension that is missing - grit. I think Johnny and Sean would be better for it too.
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How much grit does Chicago have in their top 6? How many times has an Evander Kane team made the playoffs?
I agree our top 6 is missing something but I think it's the proper mix of tenacity+skill. Monahan is not tenacious. Hudler is somewhat tenacious in front of the net but not so much in the corners. Backlund/Frolik can be tenacious but they're both tweeter 3rd/2nd liners. Right now we have Bennett and Gaudreau as our only tenacious top 6ers and Bennett spends half his time with bottom 6ers and Gaudreau.. teams are keying in on him like he's Gretzky.
Bennett's development is more important than people realize.
I look at the Blackhawks roster and while Kane is skilled, their tenacity comes from the pair of Toews and Hossa. Those two drive that team. It's not grit - I wouldn't call either of those players "gritty" but they are 60-70 point forwards who never lose puck battles and have a knack for driving teams crazy.
Where do we get that kind of elite forward? We have to hope our prospects continue to develop and actually get opportunities to play top 6. Bennett, Jankowski, Poirier, Klimchuk, Mangiapane all have the characteristics I think this team needs more of - Skill+Tenacity. Can they be top 6ers? I hope so. Adding a forward in this draft would sure help, wherever we end up we can't be trading the pick like we did last year. From Treliving's comments it sounded like we wanted to draft Kyle Connor who I think has that kind of top line tenacious upside.