1) JR did a great job getting Sheahan, Brassard and Oleksiak. Reaves trade was unnecessary but he didn't double down on it and he used the good karma from Fleury to great effect in the Brassard trade. 2 birds, 1 stone. Sheahan played well enough to be a 3C in the 2nd half of the year, I have no doubt Brassard will be even better next year. Oleksiak has some chinks in his game but I think he's perfect for our team going forward.
2) Injuries. We didn't have great luck with the timing of injuries this year. Brassard's injury reduced his ability to build chemistry, Kessel's injury and ironman streak meant he was useless in the playoffs which apart from our systems I think was the biggest issue, Geno's injury meant we couldn't take advantage of the Caps early in the series. There's an aspect of luck when it comes to the cup, we got a LOT last year and not much this year.
3) Systems. I've said before that I think we should commit to the more aggressive system even if we have injuries and are letting a few too many goals in. I crapped on about how in January we started attacking the points and that's the only point this season we looked like a dangerous team. We aren't the sort of team that should play a passive defensive system like we did early in the year and especially against the Caps. We're not built for it.
4) Individual players.
Sid - clearly took it easy in the regular season and then owned the playoffs. I think that's what we're going to get from now on.
Guentzel - navigated his sophomore season reasonably well considering his usage changed every night. Same as for Sid in the playoffs. What a find. I expect even more next year now that we have our centre depth sorted and he can play with Sid all year.
Letang - had a pretty good year in the regular season considering where he was 6 months earlier. He was inconsistent defensively all year though and was victimised at times in the playoffs and needs to be better in that aspect next year. I suspect he will be and with a more aggressive system in place his strengths will be more on display.
Horny, Hagelin - struggled early and then played great from January when the system (temporarily) adjusted.
Schultz - had an average year, not as great as the previous but still very top 4 worthy. I hope he sees more 1st unit powerplay time next season.
Maatta - was far better this year than last, hopefully we're saying the same thing again next season! Get those plyometrics and sprints going asap Olli.
Murray - had a down year with a lot of extenuating circumstances, but I have no doubt he'll bounce back next year. Jarry looked close to being ready, but also was inconsistent.
Sheary - I think was more like his real self after a ridiculously good year the previous. With the amount of scoring depth we have when healthy, not sure we need him anymore.
Rust - continued to be Rust.
Malkin, Kessel - were fantastic in the regular season and unfortunately ended up injured in the playoffs. We're a different team when they're on and they're the reason we even MADE the playoffs.
Sheahan - underwhelmed to start the year but was everything we hoped he'd be later in the season. I hope we can keep him and he doesn't ask for an expanded role on another team.
Brassard, Oleksiak - looked good after the deadline but were out of sorts in the playoffs. I think they'll be better next year.
Dumo - tbh I can't recall how he was in the regular season but he was certainly fantastic in the playoffs. Hope he builds on that next year.
Rookies - Aston-Reese, Sprong should be on the team next year. ZAR looked like an impact player for his first ~10 games. Hopefully he's more THAT player next year. Sprong is clearly NHL ready, but it will take him time to figure out how to generate consistent offense at the top level.
5) Sully. Had an ok year. I think he clearly gets it and eventually gets to what I think is the right lines and ways to play, but I still disagree on playing passive when we're not healthy. I think we should always play aggressive, even if half our D are injured or we're on the PK. Still think we clearly have a great coach on our hands. I want us to play our January system all year no matter what.
Overall I think we have little to complain about and the crapping on about individual players in the playoffs is overblown. Hopefully we can come back healthier, hungrier next year and play our game all year and buzzsaw the playoffs again. We only need some minor tweaks in the off season and some better luck and we'll be even stronger next year.
