For me it's the core. Lindholm is probably the only player on the team that is good at all aspects of the game. But he still isn't a star that elevates anyone he plays with. Monahan, Tkachuk and Johnny all have glaring weaknesses that hold back how good they can be without players that compliment them. They all at one point were overrated to what they actually are.
Monahan is too slow and isn't not a force physically so he relies on Johnny to get him the puck as he can't create for himself
Johnny is the softest player in the league. Most talented player on the team but he size hurts this team quite often. Loose pucks in his corner end up with the other team and quite often he could be first to it but won't go after it because he is limited physically.
Tkachuk is slowly falling into Monahan range. Good player and still better than Monahan but he still needs someone to get the puck into the zone for him. His lack of speed hurts his ability to impact the game every night.
I would say this is the biggest reason why this team isn't good enough. But I do believe you can be an elite team without an elite player. But then you need very good depth. Treliving did a great job setting up the cap a few years ago that should have put us in a position to win now, but he has failed making this team deep enough. So a lot of blame is on him too. I also think that building a team with elite players is easier on a GM than trying to build a elite team based on depth. Treliving lack of patience blocked this team for adding higher end potential players.
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