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Originally Posted by Jore
That's about where I'm at. Tkachuk and Lindolm are good (great in Tkachuk's case) 1st line players in the league, but the championship caliber teams have more than that, especially through the middle, and especially when it comes to pace and athleticism.
I also don't think the Flames had as much depth as you think this year, given that Edmonton's depth, exposed by the Avalanche, out-dueled our own outside of Backlund.
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Depth is as good as your top end guys. If the top line isn't performing at the level thats expected, it puts a lot more pressure on the depth guys, thus if they are quiet, the criticism is more of a vocal point.
I don't necessarily disagree that their are aspects of the game that our depth lacks in (speed), but if we had the Avs top line guys, that consistently bring it every game (this year), I believe it helps the depth guys indirectly, play a lot more loose and effectively, knowing they don't have to pick up the slack from the top end guys struggles.
The Avs may be a poor example because this is the only year that they've started to excel in the playoffs, but look at Tampa the last 3 years. You know what you are going to get from Kucherov, Point, Stamkos (when playing), Hedman, that management has been granted the fortune to continuously cycle in new players that are considered "depth" and they still see the same success.