Quote:
Originally Posted by dissentowner
I said they were not the biggest issue and yes, they have been fine. The whole coaching debacle and change of system last year brought everyone's numbers down. The year before they had one of the best offences in the NHL. They were a Reider stick not breaking in OT or solid goaltending away from beating Dallas in the playoffs. Goaltending and D was a much bigger issue than the core forwards. Now I do think Gaudreau doesn't fit well if Ward is going to play the system he plays and would be better served elsewhere providing he return and we would all love to upgrade Monahan but that is not happening especially with a flat cap so here we are. I am not convinced we can't win with this core. Could it be better? Sure, but it is fine and was hardly our biggest issue heading into the offseason. Just my opinion. Not sure why you had to spew venom at me because I saw it different.
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The coaching debacle and shift in systems? Some of these guys (Gaudreau and Monahan) have been playing like crap since after the all-star game in 2019. This wasn't just them doing bad after the coaching debacle. This isn't a new phenomenon anymore.
Also, these players have gone through tons of coaches in their career. They shouldn't shrivel up and just give up with a new system at this point in their career. Heck - this core alone has run out multiple coaches at this point. Maybe at some point its the players and not the coaches.
A broken stick? Solid goaltending? Those are excuses and nothing more. I am sure Dallas can come up with the same amount of excuses that could have led them to sweep the series instead of losing twice. At the end of the day - excuses don't matter. You need to win and your top guys need to score. Something your loving forward core hasn't done at all in the playoffs over multiple years.
As for solid goaltending, its not like Khudobin stole any games either.