wow they recognized their shortcomings and addressed them? who knew that was possible?
i'm pretty sure you know this but this kind of nimble change is not available to us.
1, they already won their cup so the sense of completion is not here.
2, backstrom and oshie LTIR whereas our injured players stay on the roster and play at 33% effectiveness.
3, they haven't traded away all of their picks, they have 2 2nds this year. Sandin, Vrana, acquired via hockey trade. nobody wants our trash.
yes, 4, they put their young players in a position to succeed and reward strong play. we cater to salaried vets above all else. i think this is a Dolan mandate.
5, they took a swing with HC and hired a 1st time coach with real chops. Lavi's last year they were a mess, locker room was a mess, vets and young players complaining, etc. We just keep kicking ourselves in the balls.
All of these elements together created an opportunity for them to improve internally. It's all well and good for us to fantasize about Pettersson, Miller, Tkachuk, or Cozens, but one forward will not change the complexion of this team. The defense is the problem. Fix the defensive personnel (replace lindgren with a real dman), fix the defensive system(replace housley and lavi), and hold forwards to a standard of commitment on the defensive end(f***ing move your legs). It all starts there.