glenngineer
Registered User
This was the most frustrating season for me to watch, ever. Earlier seasons were tough because we sucked and that was hard too but I got to see the team get better year after year. Got in to many heated discussions about what my expectations should be regarding this team.
I have quite a few thoughts and opinions as to what's happened this year.
1. My biggest worry is we'll regret moving Fiala for Granlund. It wasn't until the last game or two that Granlund showed any sort of offense we hoped he would provide. He is a better defensive forward than Fiala but it wasn't worth giving up five years of Fiala for a guy we can lose for nothing after next year. I liked the fact that Fiala and Tolvanen would be the next wave of young forwards to come along and start to blossom when some of our mid 20's guys started to tail off some. I feel this is going to bite us in the butt long term.
2. Ellis is not going to be worth the contract he signed last summer. His shot was terribly inaccurate this past season. His defense was sub standard. Two plays in the playoffs led to two back breaking goals against us. The third goal in the blowout where he gave the winger way too much space to unload a good slapper against Rinne and the horrible play against Benn.
3. Our best players did not show up in the playoffs. While Arvy tears it up in the regular season, he is a sub standard playoff performer. For a first line winger, he does not produce in the playoffs. Look at his PPG over the last three years. Under a half a point per game and I'm sure that went down with this year's effort. Love his effort. Love his game. We need more from him in the playoffs.
4. JOFA needs to be broken up. They were not effective late in the season and did nothing in the playoffs. If we're not going to have elite forwards, we need better scoring from the entire lineup and the only way to do that is to break up JOFA. I liked the idea of Turris flanked by Forsberg and Granlund. Whether that plays out next year is anyones guess.
5. The PP. We all know it sucks. It has to get fixed. Watch other teams. Their D get the puck and fire the puck at the net right away. They don't have to be shooting to score. They can shoot to cause havoc, tips and chaos. And stop with the skate to the blue line to drop pass to the forwards coming up the ice. It's a joke and predictable.
6. If we're not going to have elite forwards, we need more 50-60 point guys in the lineup. It's that simple, without it, we don't have enough scoring punch. Instead of trading Fiala for Granlund, we needed to add Granlund to our existing lineup.
7. We moved Hartman for Simmonds. Waste of a player and a pick. We traded a first last year for Hartman. So we gave up a first effectively for Simmonds. Stupid move. Also, Hartman at least plays a physical game and is a good two way forward. His production went up when guys went down this year. Jarnkrok on the other hand had steady production like he always does but his production is average at best. If he were used as a fourth line forward only I wouldn't take issue with him on this team. He's soft and not a playoff performer.
8. Our bottom six is full of role players. Once again, we need more scoring punch on the third line. We need to move some of the redundancy out of our bottom six.
9. Let goalie be an open competition next year. We need to see if Saros is the long term answer.
10. Trade suggestion - if we think we can sign Duchene, do it. Then move Turris and Ellis for some top 6 winger help that can put the puck in the net. I think some team will bite on a player they may find to be an enigma for them. While moving Subban may get us more of a return, he's a big bodied defenseman that plays physical in the playoffs. He was the least of our worries this playoffs. Ellis on the other hand was a big problem.
11. While I love Rocco's hustle and heart, he is wildly overrated around here. A few games does not make a player a long term answer. His regular season was ok at best. His playoffs was a nice surprise but expecting him to be an answer next year is the same as expecting Tolvanen to be an answer. We cannot count on either of them to be productive players for this team.
12. Stop counting on players to be players unless you have some concrete evidence to the contrary. Fabbro could fall in to this category but I have more hope for him being an able body for the top 4 than Tolvanen or Rocco being productive offensive contributors.
13. I don't attend games regularly anymore as game day OPS absolutely sucks. I am not pumped to watch hockey most of the time I go. It feels like a forced atmosphere at Bridgestone now.
All right, I'm done ranting. You all have a good offseason. See you in the fall.
I have quite a few thoughts and opinions as to what's happened this year.
1. My biggest worry is we'll regret moving Fiala for Granlund. It wasn't until the last game or two that Granlund showed any sort of offense we hoped he would provide. He is a better defensive forward than Fiala but it wasn't worth giving up five years of Fiala for a guy we can lose for nothing after next year. I liked the fact that Fiala and Tolvanen would be the next wave of young forwards to come along and start to blossom when some of our mid 20's guys started to tail off some. I feel this is going to bite us in the butt long term.
2. Ellis is not going to be worth the contract he signed last summer. His shot was terribly inaccurate this past season. His defense was sub standard. Two plays in the playoffs led to two back breaking goals against us. The third goal in the blowout where he gave the winger way too much space to unload a good slapper against Rinne and the horrible play against Benn.
3. Our best players did not show up in the playoffs. While Arvy tears it up in the regular season, he is a sub standard playoff performer. For a first line winger, he does not produce in the playoffs. Look at his PPG over the last three years. Under a half a point per game and I'm sure that went down with this year's effort. Love his effort. Love his game. We need more from him in the playoffs.
4. JOFA needs to be broken up. They were not effective late in the season and did nothing in the playoffs. If we're not going to have elite forwards, we need better scoring from the entire lineup and the only way to do that is to break up JOFA. I liked the idea of Turris flanked by Forsberg and Granlund. Whether that plays out next year is anyones guess.
5. The PP. We all know it sucks. It has to get fixed. Watch other teams. Their D get the puck and fire the puck at the net right away. They don't have to be shooting to score. They can shoot to cause havoc, tips and chaos. And stop with the skate to the blue line to drop pass to the forwards coming up the ice. It's a joke and predictable.
6. If we're not going to have elite forwards, we need more 50-60 point guys in the lineup. It's that simple, without it, we don't have enough scoring punch. Instead of trading Fiala for Granlund, we needed to add Granlund to our existing lineup.
7. We moved Hartman for Simmonds. Waste of a player and a pick. We traded a first last year for Hartman. So we gave up a first effectively for Simmonds. Stupid move. Also, Hartman at least plays a physical game and is a good two way forward. His production went up when guys went down this year. Jarnkrok on the other hand had steady production like he always does but his production is average at best. If he were used as a fourth line forward only I wouldn't take issue with him on this team. He's soft and not a playoff performer.
8. Our bottom six is full of role players. Once again, we need more scoring punch on the third line. We need to move some of the redundancy out of our bottom six.
9. Let goalie be an open competition next year. We need to see if Saros is the long term answer.
10. Trade suggestion - if we think we can sign Duchene, do it. Then move Turris and Ellis for some top 6 winger help that can put the puck in the net. I think some team will bite on a player they may find to be an enigma for them. While moving Subban may get us more of a return, he's a big bodied defenseman that plays physical in the playoffs. He was the least of our worries this playoffs. Ellis on the other hand was a big problem.
11. While I love Rocco's hustle and heart, he is wildly overrated around here. A few games does not make a player a long term answer. His regular season was ok at best. His playoffs was a nice surprise but expecting him to be an answer next year is the same as expecting Tolvanen to be an answer. We cannot count on either of them to be productive players for this team.
12. Stop counting on players to be players unless you have some concrete evidence to the contrary. Fabbro could fall in to this category but I have more hope for him being an able body for the top 4 than Tolvanen or Rocco being productive offensive contributors.
13. I don't attend games regularly anymore as game day OPS absolutely sucks. I am not pumped to watch hockey most of the time I go. It feels like a forced atmosphere at Bridgestone now.
All right, I'm done ranting. You all have a good offseason. See you in the fall.
