I am not a Sutter critic. I have said on numerous occasions he has had a coach of the year caliber season for having the Kings in this position despite getting zilch from two of his former top six players and having a huge hole on left wing for almost the entire season. For the Kings to do be doing this well with essentially two top six forwards most of the season is amazing.
But I don't understand why it took so long for those two players to find themselves on the bottom lines in favor of some younger players. Brown's offense has been non-existent and Richards has been sleepwalking for months. I just don't like the message it sends when certain players are given free passes and others aren't. Perhaps I am wrong though, maybe Sutter just didn't have the right guys to do it at the time, maybe he is more content to roll with Toffoli and Pearson in top 6 roles than he was a few weeks ago, but I still would have done something before the break, even if it was for a game or two to try and send a message.
I'm not saying you're a critic, I'm just saying every fan can see something different in anything a coach does. That's with any fan, and any coach. If some fans see a coach sticking with lines too long for say 20 games, and other fans see the same coach changing lines up all the time in the same 20 games, that just means that as fans we're looking at things through our own particular lenses. Which is fine, because what else can anyone do?
I have to think that most coaches will give veteran players, especially veteran players he's won with, a longer leash than other players. Maybe because they have no other option, maybe because they want them to play their way out of it, maybe they believe in seniority, it could be anything.
I don't think Sutter has missed Brown and Richards struggling this season. He's got a front row seat to it, both during games and practice. Everyone can see it. Why has he given Brown and Richards the benefit of the doubt for as long as he has this year? It would be a great question from someone to ask him.