My qualms with the defense corps are pretty much get this idiot and his giant son off my television.
As far as the forward corps, I keep coming back to this, and
@DanielBrassard will be the only one to listen to me maybe, but there isn't enough skill. We talk abut 10-16-13 being the only line to generate. They generate because they beat people. You go past defenders, you draw movement, and prime areas open up. Panarin beats pretty much every guy who comes near him in open ice. It's Panarin. Lafreniere can do it. It's the number one thing he's improved on. That cut to the middle last night broke every ankle on the ice and I'm mad he hit the post. Trocheck can do it. He plays a grinding style but the f***ing guy's talented. He had that great shift in the second last night, and he was battling his ass off, but he was also using his hands to put the guy hassling him in a bad position.
The other lines have none of this. For "top guys" Kreider and and Zibanejad were never that skilled with the puck. Kreider gets by on athleticism and positioning. Zibanejad has a good shot but handles the puck like his stick is made of paper. That line needs some mitts on RW to succeed. Somebody who can do a f***ing entry and draw a switch. That's why Buchnevich worked. Bargain bin Roslovic, who can do some things at speed but ultimately always gets bad results, wasn't it. The third line has no puck talent. Cuylle is a nice player and his shot is good but beating defenders just isn't in his profile. Kakko does some things well but he just never developed the offense to take on defenders at this level. Wennberg is just grown-up Kakko. Does a lot of things well, can't score. Handles the puck like a grenade. The 4th line is the 4th line.
This team isn't quite good enough with the puck. It hinders their scoring and when they get frustrated or just aren't 100% up to it that night, it hinders their puck management.
