Quote:
Originally Posted by ComixZone
I think the bottom-six forwards largely did what they will do for us this season. They'll hit, and be defensive (but not perfectly so). The players that will drive the offensive wagon for us this year just weren't playing last night (Gaudreau, Monahan, Lindholm, Tkachuk, Mangiapane, Coleman), so up-front last night didn't cause much reason for concern - although it would have been good to see some of the youngsters do a bit more.
The concerning piece is the inability to move the puck up the ice from what is effectively our bottom-4 everyday NHL defenceman, but it was also what we (should have) expected to see given who is in those spots. Gudbranson and Zadarov are both outright bad at moving the puck forward, and that cratered the team last night.
Hopefully Pitlick isn't out long-term, because I do like the potential of a Dube - Backlund - Pitlick as a 3rd line. Dube's speed was notable last night.
Hard not to be very impressed with Vladar last night. I also thought Werner looked quite good.
...I am afraid of the damage that Gudbranson and Zadarov will do to the team's ability to drive play.
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I think Zadorov will be okay and brings a level of intimidation.
I agree on Gudbranson though. I think Stone should be the 6th d-man