I feel the same way about him. I don't necessarily think he's the answer, but the hate is kind of overboard. He's done a lot of things right. He's got them playing well, he's got the players believing in themselves. We are starting to see them develop an identity. The team is on a pace for over 90 points with probably the lightest schedule for the rest of the year. And all that while a lot of younger players are getting looks and gaining experience.
Putting young kids out there for heavy minutes is rarely a good idea, so we shouldn't be surprised when they get limited minutes. This has been shown time and time again, very few players can handle it right away. I think TM's handling of the younger guys has been fine when they are on the roster, he's shown more confidence in them than most coaches would. His weakness is managing veteran ice time. If he keeps Brown's numbers down where they are and can dial back a bit on Kopitar and Doughty, I think the team is going to be in good shape going forward.
What I don't want to see is a bunch of young guys getting a bunch of ice time in situations they aren't ready for. All players learn from mistakes, but they can also be damaging to young player's confidence if it causes the team to lose games. Other teams put out their best as much as they can, so an increase in ice team means tougher matchups. The Oilers had a ridiculously stacked organization but haven't done shit because this is exactly what they did. It doesn't work no matter how good our prospect pool is. Just give them an extra shift or two to help with reducing ice time for the older guys and let them grow.
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