I’m ok missing the playoffs. It would have been “fun” to do so, but it was always a long shot. Always.
This team has cleared a LOT of milestones. It’s removed almost ALL of its “headache contracts” (save maybe Oshie, but he’s worth the $$$ when he can play), and we’ve integrated a LOT of the Hershey youth.
They have a much clearer path forward, than they did even 4mo ago, and that’s huge.
The youth will grow, there is more to be added, and they have money to spend in FA (like…. A lot?).
Skies are bright! It just doesn’t feel that way as we miss the playoffs by a hair.
The course of this year for me has roughly gone as follows:
-Okay it's the prove it year for a lot of guys
-Alright, Backstrom's done, love you forever bud but it's okay if it's over (and it looks like it is)
-Is Ovechkin done too, or what's up?
-Kuznetsov is a problem but they're giving young guys reps and overall doing better than we thought, Mantha line was holding things up for a while
-So they're sellers but that's okay, because the guys they want to sell are doing well, they're flirting with pulling out of the team funk but it's a fool's errand
-Team goes on a heater, spurred a lot by youth and Ovechkin doing his damage, and the big value is that those young guys are playing games that aren't just run of the mill anymore.
-I think they eat some of that pressure and now we're here, which is perfectly okay considering how it really started.
Yes, I'd like for them to reach the playoffs, experience 4 guaranteed games, and approach the offseason preparing for what it's like to win the
playoff game because that's always a bit of a system shock and it's best to see it early... but either way I think a lot of these young guys are going to see what they did this year and hopefully take steps to be ready for the big time from here on.
The team is also better situated with some contracts out and Backstrom more of a backburner issue. He's a proud man and I don't know if he thinks he's fully done, or needs a year, or just wants to come back for the final record stretch or what... but it's not a handicap right now and I think they know how to work from here.
It's a good spot to be in while also having managed to be decent to a lot of people in the process.
