Sure, good teams respond to bad breaks, and sometimes they can beat the odds. The problem we are having is we're having to beat the odds far too often and far too early in games.
Even if the goaltending was clicking, we wouldn't be rolling off wins like the Jets or 2022-23 Bruins, so there are still coachable moments for the skaters too, Green isn't going to say everything is perfect when it isn't and he's not going to throw the goalie under the bus either, so pointing to other areas we can improve isn't really evidence that goaltending has been the principle area of concern.
We are the 15th highest scoring team in the league. We were getting the goal support early in the season, that support has slipped a bit since, but not as far as you'd think, in the last 12 games played (since the 8-1 win over stl) we're 17th in goals per game (we wer 11th in the first 9 games thanks to two big outburst, the aforementioned StL game and the LAK game, both 8 goal games)
Goal support is an area we can improve on, but it's not been as bad as some would have you believe.
Interesting stats. We really need to improve our offense too which is why I'm surprised people tried to counter arguments about us not being skilled enough.
Those offensive numbers would either point to an average offensive team, or at the very least an inconsistent offensive team.
Yet when people suggested that if ever were to win a cup, we need to improve our skill by getting another game breaker or two, people argued against that idea.
Like you just said, even if our goaltending improved..and our defense has improved, were still not good enough to win a cup.
I'm curious where the previously Stanley Cup Winners ranked offensively( I will look when I have time) and also curious how people think we should plan to acquire that talent?
We either need a couple high picks, or we need to find a couple gems out of late round picks.
We don't have the depth and don't have the money to get depth...we need to draft it cheap and ASAP.
Unless the goal is to win the cup with 15th ranked offense, 10th ranked defense, and 10th ranked goaltending (because that's about where I see the cap of this team) which is probably good enough to finish 12th in the league if we played to our potential. Playoffs, sure. Cup? Doubtful.