If they do miss the playoffs, the 894 circus will have fully taken over team priorities at that point. Fire Laviolette and then let Ovie become the de facto GM for his last handful of years. If he wants to keep his friends (like Kuznetsov) around, then they stay. If he wants to go balls-to-the-wall for one last chance at a Cup, then players and prospects start getting dealt away. Keep him happy and productive. Keep PP1 effective with him as the trigger man.
Honestly I thought that's where we were this year, with the Lundqvist (and then subsequent Chara) signing it had this feeling of walking him in and saying "alright, who on this list have you always wanted to play with?"
That defensive core is abysmal as it currently stands, combined with inconsistent goaltending. I would imagine that is where most of the “fretting” is coming from.
They had trouble holding leads last year as it was and this is a much less tested defensive group overall minus two fairly key defenders in Chara & Dillon. Their PK was ranked 5th last year and they'll be without their 1st and 4th D from that unit. It's a real obstacle IMO. Maybe Fehervary adds more offense and mobility for better possession play, albeit it'll likely take some time for that. As-is their shutdown ability looks weaker than it was and a lot may hinge on just how good Fehervary can be as an all-situations rookie. It's a tough ask. Overall they were already middle of the pack in goals against average and just two playoff teams had a higher GAA. They're not exactly suited as-is to make life any easier for Samsonov & Vanecek. Maybe Alexeyev joins the mix and can be more of what they're missing from Chara/Dillon. Maybe Chara does return. But for the moment it's a weaker group and it already wasn't that solid.
He was being tasked with becoming more of a dynamic offensive player in Hershey, yes. There have been glimpses, mostly using his speed in transition and leading the rush. I would expect him to be more along the lines of a healthy Kempny than a defensive defenseman initially, mostly because I'm not sure he's got the man strength yet. He's also not super tall/heavy naturally compared to, say, Alexeyev.
He missed the mark as a solid partner for Carlson going forward and wasn't amazing, no. But he was vastly more accomplished than whoever will be replacing him unless Chara does return.
I don't think that tracks, though he won't be overly dynamic barring significant dedication and confidence in the coming years. The hope would be that his skating and character drives that area further as he becomes a generally strong possession defender. He has more of the tools to be like Schmidt, who does have a ~35 point season to his name, than Alzner or Jensen. PP time accounted for some of those #s but he can be more of a puck transporter than those two more stay-at-home types. The coaching staff tasked him with prioritizing more offense in Hershey and he delivered. He brought up his point totals considerably and was consistently more aggressive. Alzner very early on was more mobile and positional than downright fast and had little inclination to carry the puck or take chances. Whereas there's more confidence in that area from Fehervary, though his skill level is more along the lines of a Kempny than Orlov. Again, I think the hope is that as he becomes increasingly comfortable and confident he'll further add more layers to his game.
So are you for adding Chara back, or?
