I think we can’t be too disappointed in the season and can’t be too rash in the moves we make this offseason but there are a few things that stand out as needing to be dealt with:
Top line (and especially Johnny / mony)
How many more chances do they get to show they can perform when the games get tougher and tighter?
I would listen to offers for either Johnny or mony but would not be actively shopping them. And you have to be concerned about mony’s long term health if rumours about his injuries being more permanent than originally thought and becoming continuous issues are true.
Tkachuk:
There needs to be some hard conversation with tkachuk around his soft play in the playoffs, and I would hope that lessens the cap hit a little bit in negotiations. He seems to have played a much softer game this season and to be honest, he doesn’t have elite or even above average speed to totally get away from playing how he is most effective as a pest.
Defensive log jam:
I think the flames need to move on from Brodie and stone to free up space for the young guys
Goalie:
I personally think this playoffs was smith’s swan song and shouldn’t erase the months of terrible play in season that nearly cost him his career. Let him go be a pto for someone else.
Bring in someone young to compete with rittich and go that direction
Coaching:
I don’t think you want to change much here, and I think peters did as good a job as could be expected when the oppositions best players outplay our best 4/5 games.
I think the experience he gained in playoffs will help him long term and I don’t mind being the least physical team in the regular season as long as we can translate that to playoff success.
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