Keller
Yes because trading all our players for draft picks is the answer in a league with a cap floor and where you can’t trade for money.
I’m all for moving the team as well but that talk is insulting as someone who has been a fan of this team since the 80’s.
We’re missing at least one all-star caliber forward who puts up 35+ goals regularly. Really, we need Stepan to be a different player who’s 50% more productive than he is. We need Goligoski to be a different player who’s 50% more effective than he is. We need Raanta to be a 90% healthier than he is. Those three changes make us a bubble team instead of a bottom dweller.
He said pieces, not a SC contender. hbk is right,we have pieces and we have to continue the course. I think this team is better than what we have seen so far, but something just seems off. We need talent for sure, and maybe we are lacking the right leadership on and off the ice. Some have said injuries, but besides Raanta, there are no star players on the shelf and a team should be able to cover those loses. I said at the first of the season we have to make the playoffs, or at the very worst be in the hunt until the last two weeks or so, and anything else is a total failure, and I still feel this way.
OEL is our best player, by a wide margin. He hits, takes hits, plays the PP, covers his partner whomever it is. He does it all. If you think trading OEL should have been traded instead of Domi and Strome, well, I really don't know what to say.
The last couple of years we have not seen the dumpster diving of years past. Players and coaches play the game to win. They care less about the draft and are more worried about their job.
Part of me thinks the injuries 1RHD/2C/1G, etc are catching up with us. The only way we compete for a playoff spot was if we stayed relatively healthy and Raanta was a top 20 full time goal tender. We don't have the star players or enough depth or money to patch the holes. I also think Tocc isn't getting the most our of his players this year or last year. It doesn't seem like we are seeing anyone have a great year other than Richardson and many players having less than expected years. It seems like last year was the same way. Collectively, individual players are under performing. We are also seeing players leave, like Domi, Strome (so far, and I don't think ti will last), and maybe Martinook perform better elsewhere. Under tip we saw more players have career years in AZ and fail elsewhere, we might be starting to see the opposite now. This leads me to believe coaching could have something to do with under performance.
No that is not what I meant. I am just saying that if Chayka is trying to purge the old guard, OEL is the number 1 tie to the past.
Looking at those pieces:
