Such a tough situation for Carbery to step into. How do you challenge vets whose confidence level is probably not great? How do you avoid stepping on their toes but not let standards drop? It would be easier if secondary support pieces were consistently going and picking up some of the leadership slack. But there continues to be a gulf in that area and it's only grown worse after the deadline subtractions. Then Carbery has to deal with other vets that are perhaps more confident but basically arrogant/selfish in having grown to pick and choose their engagement. It's a lot of instability to step into and quickly sort out, esp. given that a lot of secondary pieces aren't ideal either.
Getting nothing from the PP is the biggest concern I think. (That and Ovechkin, of course, given how much he's still relied on at his age to carry them.) There's less of an athleticism excuse on the PP and also less of an evident thought process to believe more reps get it sorted. It's bound to improve but the underlying play has been more like they're mailing it in than testing things out. Overall...too weak/casual and lacking in crispness.
Best that can be done is strengthen weak links so they have a higher floor, which should mean Johansen's brief time is over. They need to see what they have in HHA while Edmundson remains out, particularly with Sandin not playing great and a need for another PKer. I'm not sure there are many more cards to play other dumping Mantha to open up space, to just move on already and subtract one headcase from the mix. There's so much off-kilter about them that doesn't seem like a quick fix or a matter of going over video. Bottom line is they need more functional headline talent because only Carlson is living up to the name/AAV. I doubt there's much Carbery can do other than wait on them to figure it out and balance it out as best as he can. Ovechkin you'd think should figure it out unless there's an injury limiting him. But the rest? It may be a long wait. Jensen should also rebound but Kuznetsov/Backstrom/Oshie/Mantha take up over a third of their cap space and there's just not much left there IMO.
