Honestly I wouldn't mind having tougher/dirtier players, but that is far from the softest lineup in the league. You have teams out there that don't have a single player willing to drop the gloves on any kind of regular basis. And that lineup has Ritchie, Manson, and Kesler in it. Not to mention the Twins will drop them a few times a year usually. There are at least 10-15 teams in the league that would fight and hit less than that lineup would I bet. That's more an indicator of how soft and skilled the league has become. You look at the leader board for fighting majors this year and it's crazy. Michael Haley with 21, McLeod and Tom Wilson with 13, then the next highest is 2 guys with 7 fights. There's just only a few guys dropping the gloves more than once every month these days.
That defense does look a bit soft though. I would love for Murray to get a physical top 4 D that can actually play hockey (not Roman Polak plz)
This is pretty spot on. Our lineup isn't filled with a ton of fighters, but that doesn't mean it isn't physical. Understand that Dirk values fighting over physicality though. That's not a shot at Dirk, but he doesn't evaluate "toughness" like others do.
I don't think an enforcer is necessary. I think "toughness" is in the teams identity. Ideally you have physical, capable players through out the lineup. Don't get me wrong; give me Liambas over Kelly any day. Hell I'd take Boll over Kelly (don't want either in NHL, let alone lineup though).
top 4 capable, physical defenseman are extremely hard to find though. My fear is he's going to go 2010 pro scouting and sign Josh Gorges though. He'll be the new Beauchemin. We'll hate it and wonder why he's playing over better players and then we'll blame Murray/Carlyle like we do every year. I'd bet money that Gorges or Sustr will be a Duck by 2nd day of free agency.
Look around, that line up is still in the top 10 toughest lines ups in the league based on size and how many will drop the gloves.
Regardless, I think Silf will be traded this summer and probably be replaced by a rookie of some sort who is on a lower salary. No other way to get some cap relief unless Eaves is out, which i have a feeling he might be a trade deadline casualty at some point. I have a feeling Grant has earned another contract as well and he will be a low cost 4th liner.
If Silfverberg is traded, which I agree is fairly likely, I think it will be more because of Murray wanting a shake up and/or not wanting to lose Silfverberg for nothing.
I assume the D will be Larsson, Pettersson, Megna, Welinski fighting for two spots and BM signs a Physical Veteran to be a 7th defensemen. To be honest i would not put it past BM to trade one of those for some assets (maybe with Silf) for a young scorer on an ELC. When you have that many potential NHL players needing spots (and none exist), it is a waste to let them grow old in the AHL without getting some assets back.
I always say this, but I think BM will be active at the draft.
I seriously doubt Murray let's our defense be that young. He'll add a Beauchemin like player in free agency. I (and everyone else) will probably hate it, but I'd be beyond stunned if we saw a 3rd pair that had two of those guys you mentioned.
