My frustration? The Markstrom singing. But not because he sucks at hockey right now. Because they signed him for big money, long term with no-move clause but only for a one year window of contending. The writing has been on the wall that Tkachuk and Gaudreau would leave after the last run. It felt like now or never. Lots of fans around here wanted to start a full rebuild after the core was gone. But the Markstrom signing has tied their hands. How do you rebuild when you have just singed a Vezina runner-up for several seasons? I am pretty sure part of the deal was the team would be competitive no matter what. Last year we dominated possession combined with tons of scoring. This year we still dominate games, but can't score as much, which is the worst scenario for any goalie. They are cold, but every goal against hurts twice as much. Markstrom has not been great, but strangely his numbers would look much better on a worse team. The situation they created for him stings. Now they probably will have to manage his workload differently, less games and less pressure, which puts the whole contract in question.
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