And we’ve been absolutely crippled at other times without him. If fans didn’t have the memory of a goldfish we wouldn’t have “trade player x†threads every year where the player Shero held onto made a “miraculous†180 recovery. Never mind the one we’re talking about is one of the very best in the league at his position.
The Crosby winger situation isn't a knee-jerk reaction. If this was eight years ago, maybe, but it's time to fix the problem. There's no reason the best player in the past 20 years has to play with Dupuis, Kobasew, Ekman, Armstrong, and Guerin. Shero has the ability to solve the issue, but the sack or the smarts? Not looking good.
When? This year? Cap hit for stud winger is most certainly higher than $3.5m. Next year? So this year is a wash? What if Letang does something crazy like lead the team in playoff scoring….like last year?
Letang lead the team in scoring at a point per game clip last post season. If you think that's the norm and not an anomaly on a team with Sid or Geno, you're mistaken. Hell, it's sort of an issue when Sid and Geno aren't scoring at a point per game pace, or better, no? Sort of lends credence to the idea that they do in fact need legitimate help come playoff time.
Remember when Niskanen sucked? Remember when Martin sucked? Remember when Scuderi got hemmed in his zone unable to get the puck to the neutral zone without icing it? Remember when Maatta was a rookie? All of those players you mentioned on Crosby’s RW are a greater cap hit this year than Letang’s $3.5m. You included Dupuis in there – is this 2014-2015? Hope Niskanen doesn’t revert back…hope Martin doesn’t either…hope Maatta doesn’t go through a sophomore slump…hope ROR agrees to sign as an RFA at a reasonable price. That scenario has a whole lot of hoping to go along with that whole lot of risk by getting rid of the best player in any of those deals.
No player on this team makes as much sense as a trade asset as Letang. We can't move any forwards worth anything because that's counterintuitive, and no defensemen are worth anywhere near what Letang is. Letang affords us the ability to give Sid his Neal--someone who is fantastic now and will continue to be for years. Kunitz isn't getting any younger, and while he's playing great and producing, you need to start wondering when that's going to taper off, because it will, and quickly for a guy who plays his style. Get Sid a RW, allow Bennett to play on Geno's LW, and you have options for the bottom-six now. Jokinen, Sutter, Megna, Dupuis (when he's finally healthy again next season). That's a much better lineup than square-pegging players who don't belong anywhere near a scoring line in and spreading the talent way too thin. If Kobasew and Dupuis are in your top-6, and Glass is on your 3rd line, you're gonna have a rough time come playoffs.
So now it’s stack the offense and go for 5 goals a game? It’s like nobody remembers the sentiment right before Martin and Michalek were brought in: “we can’t just score our way to cups. We need defense!†After giving up too many goals in a playoff exit. Now it’s “we just stack Sid and Geno and score our way to cups!†After scoring 2 goals in 4 playoff games.
It's not about stacking Sid and Geno's lines, it's about depth. Add to Sid's line and allow the other guys to move down and fill out spots they're suited for. Again, Dupuis and Jokinen are 3rd line guys.
And if you're arguing that defense wins championships, Letang's not your best go-to.
I can’t tell you exactly how cups are won. What I can tell you is that they’re not won by riding the emotional roller coaster after every playoff loss and pissing away valuable long term assets for what’s perceived as the new solution.
Again, not a knee-jerk reaction. It started when the Wings shadowed Crosby and neutralized him during a playoffs where Sid and Geno performed at a level that hadn't been seen in decades. Teams learned and adapted quickly that if you shadow Sid and Geno and dare the others to score, you're going to win. While Kunitz puts up good numbers, if Sid's not clicking, Kunitz ain't doin' jack. Neal is much the same way. The other guys we have to turn to? Dupuis, Jokinen, and Bennett. While I love Bennett, I think it's a bit unrealistic and unfair to expect him to carry any of the load if push comes to shove, but he certainly has the talent to do so. He just needs more experience--and hopefully Bylsma allows him to play full time on a scoring wing from here on out. As far as the other guys, if you're looking for Dupuis or Jokinen to step up and create on their own when times get tough, you're in for a **** time. The team
needs help for Sid's line, and a permanent solution. No more band-aids.
O’Reilly can save the day and Letang missing doesn’t matter? So O’Reilly is gonna outscore Sid and match Geno in production that same way Letang did in last year’s playoffs?
Again, Letang produced well. But the fact that he out produced Sid and Geno sheds light on the fact that maybe their lines need serious help. There's no excuse for Sid and Geno to produce at a point per game pace or less. If Letang's leading the team in scoring, we're not going anywhere.
So our top 6 is better and our bottom 6 is worse. The solution is to add the top 6 winger? I’m not even against making moves for a top 6 winger, but I just can’t follow your logic at all.
Getting Sid's version of Neal allows the players being played out of their correct role (i.e. Dupuis, Jokinen, etc.) to slot down and fill out the bottom-6. Hypothetically, if we add ROR, you have Kunitz-Crosby-ROR, Bennett-Malkin-Neal, Jokinen-Sutter-Megna. That's a damn fine three lines. It's not about stacking lines, it's about distributing the talent throughout the lineup to be a deeper team top to bottom, but still having a lethal top two lines. That's going to get us Cups a lot more than spending $7.25M/yr on Letang.
Crosby has the luxury of having the 2nd best center in the league to relieve the pressure from opposition in the playoff matching game. Getzlaf may have Perry but he has Saku freaking Koivu to help take pressure off on line 2. They also haven’t had too much playoff success as of late. Tavares is backed by…Nielson? Yikes. And again, they haven’t done too much playoff damage. Last I checked Kane had none of Toews, Hossa, or Sharp flanking him, even though the Hawks are most certainly flush with riches of young forwards capable of playing with top end talent.
Malkin helps with matchups. He does nothing in the way of taking pressure off of Sid when Sid is on the ice--unless Bylsma goes two-headed monster. Sid needs a dangerous player on his RW.
And as far as playoff damage goes. What does that mean? When's the last time we did damage in the playoffs? Last year? We barely got past a team we should have swept, and got out-coached, out-classed, and dusted by a Bruins team who took Sid and Geno off of their games early and dared their linemates to produce when Sid and Geno weren't. Didn't work out in our favor.
Tavares is flanked by Okposo and Vanek now. He destroyed us last post-season with Moulson (who I like a lot), and if we meet again, I shudder to think of what his line will do now that they have Vanek's speed. The Isles killed us with speed, and now they're faster.
Kane's got Shaw and Saad, two extremely effective, bright young guys who will be very good for a very long time.
When you have the likes of Sid, Geno, Neal and Kunitz, the Cup is your realistic expectation every season. Letang isn't going to win us any playoff series, but adding Sid's Neal and letting the depth fill out will go a Hell of a lot further toward accomplishing that.
I wish we could put him on LTIR with an upper-body injury for being braindead.
