Anybody that grew up in this organization is like this. Bouchard and Nuge are limp starters too. Ditto for S. Skinner. Looks like Hyman has been around long enough that it's rubbing off on him too.
My only theory is I think this is a remnant of the decade of darkness stink that still emanates around the organization. McDavid and Drai grew up in the culture that's afraid of its own shadow, defensively unwilling/incompetent, and unable/unwilling to dictate a game from puck drop. The only difference now is we have better players to win in spite of these cultural issues (eventually), but all these issues are still there.
If you are saying that the team has a talent level which has the potential to outscore very bad habits then I completely agree.
I think that is a major problem with this team historically and it starts with Connor and Leon.
If those 2 players did nothing else but prioritize smart puck management and smart defence the team would follow. They dont do that because they have the potential to outscore their bad decisions. They have been getting away with that for most of their careers.
The problem is that approach ultimately isnt going to win anything meaningful.
In last nights game Connor had 2 goals. Considering his poor puck management and poor defensive play he couldnt even outscore his own mistakes. He was also 22% on the faceoff dot yet he is being lauded for his play in last nights game.
That IMO is a representation of the problem.
I said last season that if this team could commit to playing smart defence (which includes managing the puck better) they would be very hard to beat.
They did that for the 2nd half of the season.
Here they are heading down the exact same river with the exact same leaks in the boat.
If history means anything at all the boat will have to be close to sinking before the leadership group takes appropriate action. Its just who they are.
Bad habits are very hard to break.