I'm not saying our lineup is great on offense - but there are some exciting pieces.
1. Drouin. Great in Tampa playoffs in past - and great to start season. Maybe he puts something good together
2. Domi did great last season. Do we see more of that? He seems like someone built for playoffs
3. Suzuki/Kotka/Poehling - would love to see how they do in playoffs
Our issues this year was more on defense and giving up leads, then an inability to score goals. We only scored 12 goals less than Pittsburgh for example (2 more games).
And yes of course - all of this is unknown and unprecedented. I'm just speculating - our history of strong season starts is one angle to consider. As a fan i'm excited to see what happens.
Can you elaborate on Molson tweeting and especially on Therrien and PK's treatment? I haven't heard specifics and would love to find out more. The one thing we have in common is - to this day I still hate the PK trade more than anyone else here (even though I like Weber fine).
The team you describe is not a team that has any chance of competing for the Cup. Let’s open our eyes.
We need to plan for 4-5 years down the road when Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, Caufield, our 8th overall this year and Romanov are ready to go toe to toe with the big boys and Tampa, Boston, Toronto, Pittsburgh, St Louis, etc are on their way to rebuilding themselves. This is not our window and every year we try to compete is another potential league cycle wasted.
And it’s why Price and Weber have no value to the organization on the ice right now. If we truly want to win something one day and not just sell tickets, we have to do like the Rangers who moved their core a few years ago for a quick rebuild. Imagine the assets you get for those guys to complement the core I mentioned above. You’d turn things around really fast. Heck you could even consider drafting Askarov this year, the highest ranked goalie since Price in the draft.
Think of this- if 5 years ago someone would have asked you if they could actually make you a cup contender within 5 years, would you do it? Of course. Now think 5 years from now, do you want to still be where we are today as we were 5 years ago, or do you want to actually be a cup contender? You tell me.
You have to make tough decisions to get there.
Now if you’re just a passive fan who wants to see your team in the playoffs and doesn’t really care for anything else, I get it, but I’m a hardcore fan that wants to see a Cup.