Quote:
Originally Posted by Dajazz
Losing sucks, but last year was an anomaly. This is a blessing in disguise and will strengthen Treliving's long term view - we're not ready, not even close. Sell what can be sold within reason and keep the focus going forward. The sky is not falling, I could not expect playoffs again this year although bottom 5 is a little too extreme.
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I think this is the hardest thing to stomach this season. Last year we looked like we had one of the best top lines in the league and that was all set and that we had one of the best defensive cores and that was all set. This year the reality is more like:
1st line players on a contender:
- Gaudreau
2nd line players on a contender:
- Monahan
- Bennett (Maybe. Not quite there yet but if he keeps his recent play up I'd consider him there. I think he will surpass Monahan next year though)
The rest of our forwards top out at bottom 6'ers on contending teams (Frolik included). That's 3 top six players we need to find and the cupboards on the farm are bare.
Defense looks a little better as the top 3 looks good. Gio and Brodie are definitely a top pair on a contender and I think Hamilton is top 4 on a contender but I'd say right now he's a #4 and needs a strong partner next to him to be an effective 2nd pairing on a contender. That means we need to find a solid #3 defensemen. Luckily, the farm does look better here as hopefully Kylington and Andersson can step up. Bottom pairing doesn't really matter. Wideman and Russel could be an acceptable bottom pair.
The forward situation really does worry me though as we're looking like it will be tight capwise in the near future so UFA's probably won't work, no one on the farm looks to be trending to be a top 6 player and our only pieces with trade value would open up another hole....