Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
I like what he did given where they are.
Someone this summer suggested the team wasn't going to head into a rebuild with a playoff level hockey team; that just isn't done, and honestly it's hard to argue that point.
But I still don't like this team as it's currently constructed. The top line feels broken and I'm not sure they can win with it as it's constructed. The Monahan/Gaudreau pair just don't seem to be the guys to lead a team offensively in games that matter.
Would love to be wrong on that, and we've certainly seen players and teams come back completely different from season to season.
So with a flawed core, and a playoff team, I think they did a pretty good job of fortifying their goaltending, and replacing Brodie's exit. So overall I'd give it a B+
Hopefully the log jam breaks and he can get value in a trade to shake up the the top six and make this team more interesting before the pucks drop again.
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See, I think they did a good job replacing Hamonic, and failed to replace Brodie. Which is not good.
On the issue of top 6, I think there may be room for improvement with coaching and slotting. All coaches have stuck with Johnny and Monahan and it is the last year and a half that it stopped working. Which is when Peters moved to the system he perceived you need to play to be successful in the playoffs
Incidentally, Brodie has more of a skill set suited to the mobile, quick transition style of play than Tanev
If they don’t want to have a quick transition and score on the rush, and Monahan and Lindholm are going to defer to Johnny to handle the puck and not create room for him, it’s not a good line for the style of play. That’s where you need to spread out guys like Lucic and Bennett.