Guys like Engvall and Fasching contributed greatly to the second half surge. Of course the Pelech comeback was imperative, but the depth in the bottom six and consistency of them played such a large role.
Both look like keepers.
It makes me think of a guy like Wahlstrom. From an organizational perspective I am now slotting in players like Durandeau, Fasching, Engvall, Parise, and Palmieri ahead of Wahlstrom.
This was a lost season for Wahlstrom. And sadly so.
When things kicked off, I felt one of Lambert's biggest jobs this year was to find out what Bellows and Wahlstrom mean to this franchise moving forward.
At the moment, neither are playing a role. Notice how there was never any official word about what happened with Wahlstrom?
Likely ACL, based on the "walking around with a knee brace" reports.
I'm not saying I would trade him for pennies on the dollar, I'm not saying he won't ever be a 30 goal scorer we envisioned, but I am saying his spot should not be guaranteed. If you cannot produce in a top six position when the players above have had better runs in those positions than you should not have a guaranteed spot on the team.
I think the franchise still sees him as a player who we need to find out about before he's moved.
But keeping Fasching and Engvall will mean things are getting tight.
On the defensive side they need to hope that their young defenders take the next step. For all of the hate Dobson gets he has made some sweet offensive plays as of late. The stretch pass to Nelson against Tampa and shot from the point last night are prime examples of the talent he has.
He has 6 assists and a +5 over the past 4 games.
Amazing, I know.
Romanov has really continued to show up defensively in a more calm and defensive system.
Biggest loss right now. If he's done for the season, we're likely to have a much earlier PO exit. He had come in his own more than any other player over the past 25 games.
Mayfield should walk. Varlamov should walk.
I'm holding out hope that Mayfield is retained. Guys like him don't grow on trees.
His overall body of work is too important to this team.
It feels like the back-up goalie position has to be something this team finds a way to save mucho $$$ on. Is keeping Varlamov for 2.5 MM less than he has been earning the kind of true savings we should be aiming for?
Or is taking on another team's unwanted back-up in exchange for Bailey the way to kill two birds with one stone?
Bolduc has the potential to have a very bright future in the NHL. He is huge, a fantastic skater, has been invisible defensively aside from some mishaps, and should be given the opportunity next season to run the PP2 unit at the very least.
I'm not just writing this because of last night, but the man doesn't have a second gear at the moment. And that's scary, because this game is becoming more and more of a skating man's game.
At least with Aho and Salo, we've seen "jump" in their game. Bolduc hasn't been displaying that.
So, when his reach isn't good enough, we'll be having problems.
That he seems to get the puck on the net regularly from the point is, on the other hand, a very, very good thing.
There's potential. But the team has surely learned that there's a need to have Bolduc work with a skating coach this summer.
