[Crumpy-Gunt]

I think the GM is to blame for some things. The players are to blame for some things and the coaching is to blame for some things. Not sure why people are arguing whether its the players, coach or GM that should be solely blamed. Some of the contracts on this team are ridiculous. Bouma, Bollig, Stajan, Smid, Wideman, Giordano, Monahan (probably should have been bridged). The team has no identity. We are pretty soft. No shutdown defenceman or defensive specialist arguably on the whole team, but definitely our top 4 is made up of offensive d-men and 2 way dmen like Gio. Our best young D prospects are skating offensive d-men not known for their physicality or defensive game. No one who is the go-to physical, battling defenceman that forwards hate playing against. I hope Hamilton can add more snarl as he has been recently and work on his defensive game more and become that player, but as of now we only have young offensive d-men trying to develop a defensive game and one 2 way dman in our top 4. We dont even have a player who I could call a #4 dman while keeping a straight face and not feeling like im being a homer or making a stretch. MAYBE Engelland but ideally he isnt a 4th dman.

I think the biggest need for this team is some more heart and soul, battling players. The coaching staff seem more interested in implementing a system and getting players to buy in as opposed to creating a system based on the strengths of the players we have. Gaudreau Monahan is literally one of the easiest lines top to defend in the NHL. Johnny is a mouse and Monahan is a 6'3 210lb slower skating player who never finishes a check or shows any real compete. You cant have 2 players who are so easy to hem into their own zone, unable to impose their will on a game 5v5. I see 2 guys who are out there, one is trying to deke through everyone and force passes and the other is basically 100% reliant on his elusive linemate making him a pass and him using his wrist shot in the slot. Not to mention we probably should have asked them to perform on different lines to see if they are capable of driving their own line - before handing out huge contracts based on 2-3 years of easy top line minutes, tons of PP time and and o-zone starts. You shouldnt give a contract like that out without knowing that a player can thrive without their bff and line mate they have taken 90% of their NHL shifts with.

Our best players have been Frolik, Backlund, Tkachuk, Engelland, Johnson. Our worst players have been Monahan Gio, Brodie, Gaudreau. There is something seriously wrong and I think it is foolish to put all the blame solely on GM, coaches or players. The blame can be shared. From BT handing out contracts like candy and building a team with no real identity or toughness, the rigid coaching systems and players not being able to perform as they are paid to.

Its not like our players all of a sudden suck. Its not like our GM is terrible. Or this coach is single handedly ruining the team. There have been some mistakes made and they need to be fixed by all 3 parties. I dont even think we need to fire anyone or make a trade. Just need to be honest about the team, how its built, how its coached, the true value and ability of our guys. We think we are a playoff team but we are a rebuilding team that is at the cap limit. I dont know who our best defenceman is. We have 2 young guys with tons of potential and an older guy in gio who we are hoping can play the way he did a few years ago - in a career year - for the next 6 years.

Its a big mess and it all stems from that one season we made the playoffs, won a series and instead of keeping our options open and being committed to the rebuild, we tried to do anything we could to be a playoff team.