I have no problem with trying to get the team to play better D
I have a problem with trying to get the team to play better D at this stage of the season.
I agree with Wheeler. Put him on a line with Lowry and Stastny if you aren't going to play Stastny at center.
Why isn't Stastny playing center?
I don't have an issue with instilling better defense either but you don't do it to such an extent and put in so many restrictions that it destroys another area of your game which is what has happened here.
Playing good/skilled offensive doesn't mean you have to give up defense to get it. There seems to be some misconception on our coaching staff that we need to trade defense for offense. That to me isn't the case. A good offense with plenty of zone time might be the best defense for this team with our defense. Less time in our end would help this team a lot.
The team also gets into trouble a lot on turnovers on breakouts and through the nz. Spending more time on puck management and proper player support and we cut those chances out and move the puck more quickly on the attack.
Instead we get more M2M, and our players backing out early into the nz, incorporating a real soft and conservative 1-2-2 forecheck so that very rarely get in quick enough to contest the puck on dump ins and essentially allow the team to break out uncontested because Maurice doesn't want to risk odd man rushes. Our players offer poor puck support in our dzone which forces a lot of plays up the wall which in turn forces a bunch of chip outs and turnovers for the other team. If we played the system with the freedom Vincent allows for the Moose then I wouldn't have any issues but we don't.