The Serge injury and aftermath was heartbreaking, Only thing to do now is just hope it's something he fully recovers from in the next season or two.
We looked surprisingly good in the first, but the game was lost by both Vasy and the offense.
I believe JBB could make a trade to bolster this team but I think it would just be going through the motions, not make a difference and put off the inevitable rebuild another year. Hedman and Vasy are not the same this season, we're down Sergachev as well, and still need depth scoring. That'd take a lot of trades to fix but there's not a trade out there to fix Vasy.
For the most part, agreed. Not sure this is the year we spend anything else. If anything, we sell what little we can to help bolster a more legitimate next year. With Sergachev, a better 3LD, more experienced Lilleberg, a new face or two in the bottom six, and Jeannot, maybe we just hold off and hit resume next season. Idk, tough spot we are in.
For all the stuff I give Sergachev, he shows up in the playoffs. Having to replace the #2 LD AND you were already needing an upgrade over CDH, that's an expense we can't pay right now.
You know why I hate the f***ing salary cap? It reduces players to numbers. Kid just suffered more physical pain than most here have ever had to endure, gets the emotional shock that he's been preparing himself his entire life to be an NHL player which may be over, and he gets to look forward to months and months of difficult physical therapy.
All signs point to him being a good kid, just 25 years old, but we've got posters here spewing vitriol because he's now "damaged goods". If your an immature pre-teen I get it, but that is a loser thought process if you're an adult. Maybe it irks me a little more than some since I've been in his situation before, but have some damn empathy.
I mean I get what you're saying and agree, though I think there's legitimate concern for how he returns and how it affects the team in both the short and long term. That might sound callous but I don't think envisioning or speculating the direction we take with him penciled out for +3 months is beyond sensibility. To add to that, that's the exact approach JBB and the staff will take alongside him too. He's going to be replaced for "x" amount of time - right in front of his face - but the spot is his when he comes back. He's obviously going to afford and be treated like royalty so a return can happen, but in sports entertainment that's the sad reality - its a business. I don't agree with calling him damaged goods, but I think people saying "hold off" on cap/roster talk are reaching a bit too much. The moment that happened, JBB's first concern was Sergachev's health and secondarily, how the team fills that hole.