Quote:
Originally Posted by 868904
Those guys aren't problems if they are paid accordingly and on the 4th line where they belong. You find these kind of guys on every championship team and they are key in the playoffs. Simon and Nordstrom have made key contributions in the playoffs for the Pens and Bruins. Role players are an important part of every championship team. It bothers me that a few on this board think we need to get rid of veteran role players and replace them with prospects who aren't suited for the role.
We need to stop blaming the top guy and we need to stop blaming the 4th line role guy who gets paid less than $1 million.
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That’s right. I don’t have a problem with the Leivo’s and the Ritchie’s when they’re slotted where they need to be, but when these guys are all over the top 6 and weighing down the top players, that’s when there’s a problem. It’s like McDavid yesterday screaming at Pulujarvi, I’m sure there were times when Gaudreau and Monahan just wanted to unleash a barrage on Brett Ritchie.
The individuals themselves are fine, but when management overspends on mistakes and the team has no cap space and thus, has to go thrift shopping to fill important holes, that’s where the problem lies. That’s what I meant with my aside comment at the end, it’s not the individuals, it’s the situation. In the end, my blame is more so at management for all the screw ups. They put the players in a position to fail this season and they deserved to fail this season.