Quote:
Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy
My goodness.
80+ point wingers are not "complimentary pieces"
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On most cup winning teams, they are. Patrick Kane. That concludes the list of exceptions. Even Ovy didn't break through until the Caps had two legit Cs.
This team most closely resembles Blackhawks teams (average+ goaltending, great defence, elite wingers, very good centers). The problems are that Gaudreau is not Kane (certainly not in April, let alone May/June). Between them, Tkachuk/Lindholm might have the potential to come close to Toews/Hossa, though it would really help if Lindholm actually played C. Monahan offers similar production to Sharp, but nowhere near as versatile. Perhaps most importantly, the Blackhawks always had another 4-5 guys who played at a level similar to Backlund. We have...Backlund. Every other Flames forward would struggle to crack the Hawks' 4th line.
Lastly, I don't feel strongly one way or the other on Peters, but it seems unlikely that he is as good as Quenneville.
Of course, comparing them to the greatest team of this decade isn't necessarily fair, but they are really the only team to have lifted the cup with average+ goaltending and a 3W+1C core (Sharp being a faux C like Lindholm). With a much stronger middle 6, our core 4F might actually be able to rise to the level of the Hawks 4F, but it's basically to impossible to conjure up ~4 more good forwards out of nowhere.