A few thoughts:
I actually start believing that the staff and team doesn't play to win anymore. They play to show they're competitive, give younger guys a shot who want to make a name for themselves and play a good hockey game for at least 30 minutes every game. They can achieve everything they would want that way (like giving more ice time to players like Burmi and Dano to see what they achieve with top 6 minutes), score some goals to proof they are still able to do it, don't allow too many goals because it doesn't feel and look good and if you lose the game after 60 minutes, who cares.
Sure, individually, players want to score a goal, make a nice play, a good save, maybe even outshoot the opponent. Wheeler represents my thoughts the most. Ever since Ladd was traded and Little got injured and Wheels was pretty much the only top forward left, I think he stopped playing at 100%. He sure looks a lot more coasting out there. He has 2 goals and 3 assists over the last 10 games. Pretty "meh" stats for his standards and TOI.
Dano looked a lot more comfortable on the ice after scoring his first. I'm quite confident we'll see a big step up once he found his place on this team. Might not be this season because the team and roster is all over the place but giving him top 6 minutes until the end of the season would be a good idea IMO. Let him build confidence on his new team which he can take over into the summer. He'll be looking forward to next season.
Halischuk once again showed why he is our best prototypical 4th line player IMO.
Burmistrov has 1 goal and 4 assists over the last 10 games with 15 shots on goal.
In his last 10 games before those 10 games, he had 1 goal 0 assists and 13 shots on goal (4 out of those 13 came against NJD which is really a lot for his standards this season).
I agree with this. I was a bit more encouraged by Dano's play - he was a bit quicker. I still think he needs to gain half a step to be really effective. But he's smart and has good hands, and he doesn't mind working the boards.
Burmi has been generating a lot of chances lately. He also seems to be moving the puck more quickly, especially in the neutral zone. He has a lot of skill and works hard.
Going forward, I think we'll have an abundance of forward depth, and some decisions will need to be made in the next 2-3 years about who to keep. If we keep the top line fixed, there is a lot of fluidity in the other 9 forward spots.
Top 3: Ehlers, Scheifele, Wheeler
Middle 6: Little, Perreault, Connor, Stafford, Armia, Burmi, Lowry, Dano, Petan (that's 9)
Bottom 3: Copp, Thorbs, Lemieux, Lipon, etc.
For next season?
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler
Perreault-Little-Armia
Burmi-Lowry-Stafford
Lemieux-Copp-Thorbs
AHL: Dano, Petan, Lipon, Kosmachuk, De Leo
NCAA: Connor, Roslovic, Foley
CHL: Spacek, Harkins
KHL, etc.: Kraskovsky
Lemieux might start in the AHL, with Dano or Petan on the 4th line, but I think it would be best for Dano and Petan to play top-9 if with the Jets. Lemieux seems like a better fit on the 4th line, but we'll see in training camp.
I could see Stafford or maybe Burmi being moved in the next year to make room for Dano and/or Petan in the top 9.