I agree, but like
@Better Call Maul mentioned you can lead the horse to water but can't force it to drink. This is mostly on Sullivan and if he's not going to play DOC or Smith, its senseless to keep them here not playing.
Hextall in the off-season thought he needed depth so retained some guys and brought in another 2 he liked, I have no issue with that.
It just seems weird to be attacking Hextall when this is mostly a coaching issue.
I will always maintain that Archibald was something that was asked for internally and Hextall made it happen for them. He had zero ties to Archibald in LA, Philly etc. the only people that had any ties to Archibald is Sullivan. Even Reirden was gone by then and Vellucci wasn’t there either.
The problem with a lot of people is that the GM has to be on the same page as the coach. He doesn’t coach. He has to get the players he feels works for the coach he has based on his feedback. It’s when a Gm starts making moves without consulting is where you see a disjointed team.
So if Sullivan is unwilling to play ball and utilize youth, Hextall can do only one thing - start trading veterans and make the room. Which again, also goes against the type of person Hextall is. You start doing that and it’s found out, there’s a stigma and he’s more methodical than that. I think right now you’re seeing Hextall watching ice time of certain types Sullivan wanted and seeing an opportunity to move them out as they’re also not performing - namely, Heinen.
To me Heinen dwindling in ice time even from the one bloke that seemed to be on his side is a clear indicator that the staff is sort of done with the project. This is where Hextall needs to do something and where I feel I’d say shit about him if he doesn’t.
I would trade Heinen, call up one of the young players or keep Doc up and make Sullivan use him as the only other option.
Can’t wait for us to shit the bed against Boston outdoors.
But really as long as none of our stars get hurt, who really gives a shit about playing outdoors anymore??
I mean I would hate for injuries.
But I’m also not going to sit here and tell you I don’t have a list of players that I magically wouldn’t be sad to see on LTIR.