I know wanting to have offense is a crime around here...but we really need offense.
Not as badly as you think.
How do you reconcile the facts that:
1a.) A team with a top 5 defense has won 7 of the 11 Cups since the lockout. Pittsburgh this year and Anaheim in 2007 fell just barely outside this.
1b.) The team with the better defense has won 9 of the 11 Cups since the lockout.
2a.) A team with a top 5 offense has won 5 of the 11 Cups since the lockout.
2b.) The team with the better offense has won 5 of the 11 Cups since the lockout.
To me these facts say that it's far more important to postseason success to have an elite defense rather than an elite offense.
Could we get it with a FA addition or two and natural growth from guys like Pysyk and McCabe? Maybe, possibly...in the right system.
Could we get an elite offense with an FA addition or two and natural growth from guys like Eichel, Reinhart, Girgensons and others? Absolutely.
To me, it's MUCH more likely that we can organically grow a Cup-caliber offense with the right FA sprinkled in than it is that we can organically grow a Cup-caliber defense right now.
This is why I (and others) are big fans of using #8 this year on a LHD. It'll be much easier to grow a Cup-level defense if we have Risto and #8 than it will be to rely on trade and FA acquisitions.