His much of a liability is the top line? I’d be interested in some stats for if they outscore their competition, and what their QoC is like. Are they really that bad?
And Backlund isn’t just a defensive guy, he is definitely a 2 way guy. Yes it would be great if he can get pushed down to the third line, but he isn’t just a defensive guy.
This is always the balancing act when assessing a struggling team....are all the players junk just because the team is bad? And as soon as the team starts to put it together and they see some success, suddenly we have some great players slotted well. It’s easy to do a baby toss with the bath water thing.
Ultimately I’d still like to see a coach bring some more accountability to all players, and preach an aggressive mindset both offensively and defensively, as opposed to a passive mindset at both ends of the rink.
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