i dont see how unintentionally tripping is considered a mental lapse. there easily couldve been a groove in the ice. why arent the people on the pk being blamed? the team couldve killed that off, its not like he tripped and he scored on a break away. also, thomas shouldve had all those goals except the rick nash one, and ill give him a slight pass on the brassard one, but those other two he shouldve had and you could tell he was frustrated giving those up.
and where have there been rumors of him wanting a change of scenery? first time ive heard of this.
not every 14 overall pick becomes a top pairing D, i dont know what the expectations have been for him, the fact he became a definite top-4 (on most teams, only teams with insane D depth could say hes not a top-4) is pretty darn good, im sure every gm wishes a D taken 14 overall would end up that way.
and weaver is fine as a bottom pairing guy, but kulikov being a young developing puck mover, itd be good to have him have a partner who can contribute at least slightly on the offensive side. weaver is a good stay at home defender but that leaves all the offensive attributes for that line all on kulikov. him and gudbranson looked great together. and to me in the last couple games kulikov has looked very aggressive to me. hes fine when the puck comes to him, has no issue skating it up or making an outlet pass, aggressive on the pinch, i dont get this talk about him being timid, i dont see that. i am veryyy happy about what im seeing from, ESPECIALLY since he just turned 23 and has developed with a terrible team with lousy forwards and bad D partners for the most part. timid and indecisive is the last thing i'd say about his play right now. he looks aggressive and confident about his decisions (not second guessing or timid about possibly making a mistake whether he makes them or not, which im fine with. think. but own your decision. and whether he makes a mistake or not i see that). pair him with gudbranson or campbell, under horacheck's system, and i think people will finally see how good he is. i think a lot of this is a follow the leader mentality, a couple people rag on him, now everyones gotta do it so they feel like they fit in. hes currently our 2nd best D at the moment, lets all get on him. what a concept.