We need a miracle, but let's look at the positives.
We were 3 goals off 2nd in the conference for goals scored. Essentially scoring at the same pace as anyone else in the conference sans Colorado. We have enough goal scoring that it is not an area of concern at the moment in terms of a tiered list of things needing to be addressed using our own assets. I would have it as the least important. Even though we have spaces that should be filled (for example, the idea of having Kassian, Archibald, Chiasson etc as the options McDavid is forced to play with makes me physically sick). However, I think we need to PRAY Puljujarvi comes back next season and fits into that spot.
We need to be realistic. Our special teams carried this team into a solid playoff position this year. It is very unlikely that we maintain that level of proficiency going into next season. It just doesn't happen. Our PP will very well still be top 5, but our PK was an anomaly. We need to accept, as Kenny eluded to in his interviews yesterday, that we should expect to fall back down to earth in some of these metrics and that will lead to more goals against. We should all be in agreement that reducing goals against should be the primary goal for our GM at the moment.
So, what do we do?
The easiest answer is to move out defencemen who struggle to move the puck out of our zone. This means moving out Klefbom, Nurse, Russell, Benning, Larsson. Uhhhhh...
Ok, now let's also evaluate the defencemen on our roster who can not get a shot through to the net from the point. Oh shucks, it's essentially all of them.
You can begin to see the predicament that Kenny is in. There is almost no fix. It's one of those things you'd see in real life -- some old shack in the middle of the woods on a beautiful property. Well, do you tear it down and build something beautiful? Kind of hard to do that in the NHL. So Kenny has been tasked with trying to slowly repair it piece by piece. It's only going to end up a mess.
We need a bulldozer and a float truck full of nice new lumber. Well, where do we get that? Probably the draft. But who is going to teach the wood to look pretty and to not creak? Well, we do not have that guy. Imagine you come into the NHL as a top pick. You are a teenager or early 20's. You are brand new to the league, terrified, trying to figure out how everything works. Trying to figure out how to shut down behemoths like Mackinnon, Panarin, etc. In any line of work you have the apprentice and the master. Essentially. Well what happens when the apprentice is being taught what to do by a complete f***ing idiot? What about when that guy who got taught by the f***ing idiot is now tasked with teaching the next apprentice how to play? Well, you're in a looooot of trouble. Introduce Oscar Klefbom. Introduce Darnell Nurse.
Contrast to Chicago. Duncan Keith teaching a big group of young defencemen how to play. And damn does he play. 37 years old and still making a mockery of our organization. All of the young defencemen on that roster learn how to play defence properly. How to win championships. Their compete level was way higher even if their team lacked the skill ours does at the top end. It didn't matter.
So again, what do we do? Well, we pray. We pray that Kenny can acquire an ACTUAL mentor for these D. Talking about Mike Green, not sure. He was a damn good offensive D, but never came close to winning anything. Don't think anyone really fits the mold. Pittsburgh had Gonchar lead the way. Chicago had guys like Campbell. We don't have anyone.
We are going to need to pray for an anomaly. We are going to need to pray that guys like Bouchard and Broberg come in the same way Bear did as a rookie and blow the roof off the place...only better. One of them needs to become a true #1 guy. Teams like Columbus have managed to get two in Werenski and Jones. All we really need is one...please God, help us out. Give us our first top pairing defenceman since Chris Pronger. Without it we are toast.
