Our lack of offensive IQ at the blue line and overall puck poise was, in my opinion, the single biggest reason we lost this series. Had we advanced, I think the middle-six would’ve been exposed further, but that still takes a backseat to the issues on defense.
I'm curious if we’ll hear anything about Leddy. He looked almost identical to how he did early in the season. Pure speculation, but if it's the same injury, I have to wonder about his long-term health.
As for the middle-six, 81/25 is a lethal combo. As we saw, they can elevate whoever is at their pivot. The criteria there is really someone semi-responsible defensively, and capable of reading the play at an average level. The Center we bring in there isn't so much about upgrading Schenn—it’s about upgrading Sundqvist. That’s the bar. I’d prefer addressing that spot in free agency over trading for a legit 2C, but the market is thin. I like Duchene, but so do 15+ other teams. Nelson is likely a top target for Minnesota. Granlund and Bennett will want (and probably get) too much AAV and term. Roslovic isn’t a pure center but offers upside. Tavares brings a lot—including a faceoff win rate just behind Thomas in the regular season—but feels like a longshot.
The flip side to pursuing a free-agent center is that this playoff run might push the organization to fast-track their path to contention by trading for a top center, with Dvorsky likely at the core of any such deal. If they have doubts about him hitting, that’s the move to make. I trust they’ll be decisive if it comes to that.
On defense, names like Ekblad, Grzelcyk, and Provorov are out there. They each bring some offensive tools, and I’d welcome one of them—especially if we can move on from Faulk and/or Leddy—but none truly fill the hole on our blue line. What we really lack is a high-end, mobile offensive defenseman. That type of player fits Monty’s system much better than it did Berube’s, and we just don’t have anyone like that in the system right now, aside from Jiricek—and he’s still a ways off.
