And the NY Islanders lack the finesse and offensive talent needed to contend for a Stanley Cup. Sure we have plenty of grit and a good defense but we don't have the offense. Dubas didn't even build that Leafs team. Same can be said about clueless Lou. The Islanders and Leafs had similar records last year. They are similar this year. Both teams had Lou play a part in building their teams. Both team have fatal flaws. And remember Lou wanted JT on the Islanders.
..and rightfully so. JT would have fetched us a whole lot of prospects or maybe a Cup.
But the Isles without JT bring a ton of grit, a good locker room chemistry and buy in from the team (except Ho Sang and Lou has done an great job not letting that distract this team.
The Isles Defense is superior to most teams which has a major positive effect on goaltending. They are in most of their games without a great scorer and had a very good season last year.
If your only gauge on success is Stanley Cups, there were only two teams that made it to the finals last year. Were there only two successful teams? Or just one? I will argue the Isles were a success last year.
Now in my opinion, Chemistry means a lot more than individual stats and finesse as you put it and just having an superior offense is not nearly enough. Look at how most of the superstar top scorers faired. Maybe a handful of the NHL top 30 point leaders (point per game players) made it passed the second round. Only Marchand #5, Aho #21 and Pastrnak #21 in scoring were in the semis. The Blues O’Reilly #32 won the cup
The Leafs despite having all the finesse and #4 in goals, produced a first round exit because of below par defense and goaltending last season. Maybe it’s the coach, or the spotlight those guys are in every minute of the day and the money, but that organization year in and year out struggle to win it all. Maybe even call it a Chemistry problem.
Now yes, the Isles need to produce more offense and yes we presumably need a legit top 3 winger for Barzal, but they are not easy to obtain and getting one will be costly.
Lou swung for Panarin and missed, not because of Lou, but because of the organizational problems, the arena issues, the fan base or lack thereof and generally the inability for the team to attract star UFAs. It was the attractiveness of NYC and a being superstar in the greatest city in the world or Panarin wife’s perception, instead of being a part of the small tight ship that is sailing along on Long Island.
You can argue giving away the farm to get one such player now would have been the solution, but Lou’s philosophy, as was Mr Torrey’s philosophy, is long term winning and sustainability and building, be it a slow rebuild while still winning now (how about that), is more important for 2021 and beyond. It’s the Islanders way, like it was in the 70s, and we are in the equivalent of the late 70’s right now, just missing one or two of the pieces that we may be developing internally right now.
Anyone who doubts the organizations direction is either in a cave having not witnessed what proceeded Lou, not a fan of this team, or just plain clueless in terms of what goes into building a winner.
One thing is for certain, Lou is not the clueless one. Lou is the savior we have been waiting 30+ years for.