Quote:
Originally Posted by 8sPOT
Everyone so quick to put this crappy season on Sutter. What about last year?
Its not coaching, its the players. This collection of players just doesn't have any chemistry.
Kadri and Huberdeau are not even close to bringing what Johnny and Tkachuk brought. Markstrom has also fallen off a cliff. I dont see how this reflects the coach, if anything it could be on the GM. But to me its the players. I've seen way too many half-assed efforts, slow shift changes, silly decisions with and without the puck, and just overall lack of execution.
When Jacob Pelletier is the standout forward we have some major personnel issues.
Could just be too many new faces and will take a season to come together, or could just be a down year for our top guys. Either way the best course now is a top pick, play some kids, sign Coronato.
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I'm no Sutter hater, but it's pretty well established that he has a shelf life, so citing a previous year's success (which fell apart in round two) is not quite as effective as with other coaches.
Kadri and Huberdeau are not that far off of what Gaudreau and Tkachuk brought in some years other than last year. Two seasons ago, Gaudreau had a handful more points than Huberdeau this year, and Tkachuk's production was very similar to Kadri's this year. Same for the year before.
A whole bunch of things have happened this year, and some of Sutter's choices have played a part. Lazy line changes? I see a lot of that out of the 4th line (especially Lucic) and Sutter keeps going back to them. The power play has lacked creativity, urgency and direction. He hasn't tried some combos or strategies that I think a lot of armchair coaches have suggested - trying Lindholm/Huberdeau again, giving Lucic a reduced game load, etc.
TBF, plenty of players are doing well. Dube, Backlund, Zadorov are doing better than last year IMO. Toffoli and Coleman are as good, and so is Lewis.