The stuff about Blashill:
That's what happens when the team doesn't have a core. It doesn't have a #1 center or a top defense pairing, that's 3 cornerstone pieces its missing. Not really the foundations for a great team, is it? The team is literally sitting right where anyone with half a brain predicted it would be.
As for the AA 3rd line/2nd line stuff; He's getting over 15 a night on lines that vary in usage, the only forwards getting significantly more are Larkin and Zetterberg, mostly because they are being doubleshifted more in the 11/7 scheme, a couple other players like Abdelkader is also getting a bit of a bump because of double-shifting, so just quoting ToI is vacuous. And his scoring clip is inflated by a couple good games, he's been invisible a lot more than he's been scoring. And even with most ToI he's ever had his Fenwick and Corsi are both significantly lower than his career average, showing he's not driving possession when he's on the ice. Why should he get more time than Mantha, Nyquist, Tatar, or Abdelkader (not to mention Larkin, Nielsen or Zetterberg who usually line up as centers)? All of them have better possession numbers and are scoring at higher or near the same pts/g as him. But don't take the facts into account. Because the stats say he's easily behind 4 wingers and 3 centers when you factor in points and possession, which puts him, wait for it, in or around the THIRD line.