Yeah, but it shouldn't be a Sid for Kuch swap. The problem area, especially last season has been their center depth not being there (injuries) or not very good. *Stamkos*
Stamkos is a negative except the one finals. No two way game to garnish higher praise, and last season is three highly talented players feeding off each other on the PP. Something that is very limited in the playoffs.
Last year reminded me of the 93 Pens but worse. They'd never compete for another cup. Tampa just doesn't seem to have the right mix. They seem too dependent on an offensive game. They need that defensive depth from the forwards. Somewhere. I don't see it.
Stamkos deserves a lot of criticism for his post-season performances dating back to before his injuries started. He had a great regular season last year, but the wheels fell off in the playoffs. Mind you, they fell off for everyone. The reason why I think Stamkos deserves more criticism for that than the rest of the players is that he doesn't have the resume to fall back on like Kucherov, or even Point.
TB fell apart when the power play was taken away. I mean, they fell apart for a number of reasons, but that's the big one. First, it took away our biggest weapon. But also, by not calling the penalties, CBJ was getting away with a lot that TB just wasn't used to. For instance, Yanni Gourde is a great net front presence in the regular season... not so much in the playoffs, when guys twice his size are taking liberties. That's not a shot at the refs. It's a shot at TB's management and coaching staff for not recognizing that what worked in the regular season might not work in the playoffs if they came up against the right/wrong coach. Trotz was that coach last year and Tortorella was that coach this year. TB had no answer whatsoever.
I honestly think Palat was a bigger piece of the puzzle than anybody realized. Both Johnson and Kucherov tore up the playoffs when they had Palat on their wing. Kucherov, up until that Washington series in 2018, was a monster in the playoffs. It's sad that people forget that so quickly, after a couple of bad series. I really think he needs somebody on his line who can create time and space for him, kind of like what Kunitz used to be for Crosby, with that oddball pairing that worked so well for years and years. Palat was that guy for Kucherov. But injuries have piled up, and Palat has been a shadow of his former self for a while now.
Getting back to Stamkos, even his best playoff performances haven't really elevated him past our 3rd or 4th best player in any given series. Part of the issue is we've had very little luck finding him a partner in crime since MSL left. He and Kucherov get white hot sometimes, but other times they're a complete **** show together, pretending they're globetrotters and giving up Grade A scoring chances for one more pass. It can get really ridiculous when they give each other too much respect.