Im looking at 2 playoff appearances in a row ,with torts..better than any coach weve had,some of the line ups we had in january..and we still made it,he should be nominated for best coach of the year.We dont have the veteran depth that Washington has..and still could have won...
Agreed, and in those playoff appearances we lost to the Stanley Cup Champs (PIT), and to the team that has won 2 out of the last 3 President's trophies and finished 1st in the Metro 3 of the last 4 years (WSH).
These are A level teams, the reality is we are a B level team. I don't feel our coach is what's holding us back. There might be 5-6 teams in the league that have everything in place to contend for the cup, and we are in the ring of teams just outside that circle. If it was as simple as making a move or 2 to jump from B to A, then there wouldn't just be 5-6 A level teams.
But the good news is, we've finally graduated from C/D status, and are a consistent playoff team.
A - level teams: WSH, PIT, TMP, NSH, SJS
B - level teams: VGK, LAK, COL, WPG, MIN, STL, CBJ, TOR, PHI, BOS
C/D - the other 16 teams