Can the Conn Smythe go to a coach? Give it to Trotz lmao
Trotz is the best coach in the game but the Isles players are getting severely underrated. People say we are severely outmatched on paper to a team like the Bruins -- which is true at the top end, but not in the middle and the bottom end. (The Lightning are different and have the best roster in the league). As much as Lou and Trotz have brought them along, previous coaching, management, and ownership held them back. It goes both ways. Players like Josh Bailey were essentially ruined and rushed into the league on cap floor teams that nobody wanted to play for, but is actually a damn good hockey player.
Not to mention they have a ton of playoff experience together. Trotz certainly gets the most out of them, there's no denying that, but people are acting like a coaching god keeps taking an AHL team to the semifinals when it's a ton of first round NHL picks.
The problem is that nobody here knows how to evaluate talent
until that person puts up points. Then that person is good. But there's zero ability to contextualize that. Are they in a good situation now? Be it a system, a line, a division, a role, etc. Is someone in a bad position now and therefore looks bad but is actually a good player? Nobody knows.
When Isles fans kept saying how good Pelech is, nobody really listened. He's not flashy, not a lot of points, kinda bald. But now that we've made some deep runs and John Forslund and Pierre McGuire give the nauseating full name "Adam Pelech" treatment like they say "Kristopher Letang", then now he's good. That's how it works. That's how player assessment goes, that's how the league awards go, that's how it all goes. And every hockey circle thinks the pundits and the league and the refs are complete idiots but then turn around and do the same exact shit.
