Our management did spend big on a goalie. His name was Jack Campbell.
That decision probably cost us a Stanley Cup last June.
It is what it is.
You're probably not winning a game 7 of a Cup Final with a Skinner or Markkanen in net. We've tried it. 0/2.
$5M isn't spending big IMO, that's way at the low end for NHL starters (except those on ELC) and it showed.
I actually can't think of any/many guys with 3-4 years of "carry the load" starter experience that sign in that price range.
With inflation, we pretty much signed Campbell to a "limited starter experience" similar to what we signed Koskinen and before him Talbot to.
Then we complain about inconsistency, wash, rinse, repeat.
I'm not saying we should be spending more either, just that your expectations that a $2.6M sophomore is going to go toe-to-toe with a $10M multiple Vezina winner in Game 7 of the SCF and not be the first guy to blink in a low-scoring 2-1 style game is kinda... I dunno, it's kinda kooky that you would expect him to win that game.
Adin Hill made $2.18m going toe to toe with said $10M multiple Vezina winner the year before
I hope it's a real 2-3 weeks, not a "2-3 weeks until he can play again at 80% to save the organization's butt, then will need some sort of surgery in the future".
i think you're bang on, the bare minimum is 40% of available points earned in McDavid's absence, anything less is verging on DISASTER ZONE. I hope the rest of this team is able to wake up, step up, and produce while their captain heals up.Say he misses 8 games, we better hope we get minimum 10 pts out of that stretch or we will be in trouble