BruinDust
Registered User
- Aug 2, 2005
- 25,288
- 24,180
I see no reason why it can't be both. This team has had a significant leadership drain since 2020 and the guys who are left and been promoted internally don't seem to be doing enough to fill the void. That's not me hating on Brad and the rest, just there does seem to me to be an issue in that regard, and frankly in context it's not that surprising.
But for sure there is a talent problem too, and a roster construction problem more broadly, and a coach who can't seem to get to grips with how to manage this particular type of roster. They're all factors IMO. The talent issue is probably the most significant, I won't dispute that, but it's a combination of things currently dragging the team down.
I think on the ice there could be better leadership by example than what we are seeing right now. It's a fine line though. You want your leaders to play the right way but you also don't want to suck the creativity out of them either.
You could bring Sidney Crosby here and I still don't think it changes the results very much just based on his leadership alone, no different than his leadership can't mask the fact the Penguins (like the Bruins) are just not very good.