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Originally Posted by SuperMatt18
That's 100% it.
The team has talent - it just needs a bit more speed and tenacity for the playoffs.
And the NHL playoffs are pretty unpredictable year to year. Look at the final four from the last couple years and how they finished the prior year.
2019 Final Four: San Jose (second round), St.Louis (missed playoffs), Boston (second round), Carolina (missed playoffs)
2018 Final Four: Tampa Bay (missed playoffs), Washington (round 2), Winnipeg (missed playoffs), Vegas (Didn't exist)
2017 Final Four: Ottawa (Missed playoffs), Pittsburgh (won cup), Nashville (Round 2), Anaheim (Round 1)
2016 Final Four: St.Louis (Round 1), San Jose (Missed Playoffs), Tampa Bay (Cup Finals), Pittsburgh (Round 1)
The teams that will be in the final four next year are more likely to have been teams that missed the playoffs, or had playoff failures this year, than they are teams that are still playing in the final 4.
Playoff success is rarely a linear path in the NHL. Best bet is to build a top regular season team and give yourself a shot in the playoffs each year.
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It takes more than talent to win the Stanley Cup. It takes a whole host of other intangible skills and behaviours as well.
What we saw first hand this playoffs is that we are woefully inadequate in having these intangible characteristics, which drive people nuts because you can’t quantify them very well and they are hard to understand and not well understood to begin with.
We could use a lot more Justin Williams’ type players but they don’t grow on trees. It’ll be a tall challenge to get this group to the next stage of winning.
You can’t have Sean Monahan literally standing next to Johnny Gaudreau who is in a headlock and staring at the guy not pushing him or doing anything.
These things matter. In a very material way. We learnt that quickly in round 1.