This is what I expect:
I think out of Hunt/O’Rourke/Faber/Lambos/Peart we can find at least two dmen who are competent in the offensive zone.
Addison’s 5v5 offensive numbers are not there. You can get some slack for piss poor defense when you are out there scoring a lot of points. See: Dumba earlier in his career. Addison is neither scoring a lot 5v5 nor playing good defense. Whether we like it or not, Addison is contributing to this team’s drop in 5v5 scoring from last year to this year. Great asset for the power play. I just expect more from him.
To me, the bottom line with our offense is that our middle group of forwards have been atrocious in providing it, not that our Dmen are not providing it. Addison is on pace for well over 40 points as a rookie. That’s fantastic, and borderline insane to want to move him from a team that was crying out for PP competence just last year. Dumba, at the same age, had 34 points in the entire year.
Trading Fiala, and keeping Goligoski, Greenway, Foligno, over him, as well as the failures of Rossi and Hartman this year, as well as trading for Reaves as if what this team’s problem was that we couldn’t beat heads enough…even Duhaime, who I don’t expect much from, hasn’t done a damn thing.
I mean, where is the swagger” now? I hate those damn jock cliches.
Out top end players( Zucc, Kap, Boldy, Spurgeon) are playing reasonably well. Our mid range people(too many to name) have been mediocre to terrible. Our low end people( dewar, Merrill, Shaw, Reaves, Duhaime, Steel) have been more or less as expected, for me. Not good, but I didn’t expect them to be, with the exception of Dewar.
Dean is also out of tricks. There are signs that his message is starting to fall on deaf ears.
Guerin has done next to nothing. Getting rid of Jost was great- addition by subtraction- ,but trading for Reaves was not, though it’s on Dean that he has played him non stop since he came, when it’s clear that he is too slow and untalented to be a NHL regular.
