With the way we are playing it may be time to stop focusing upon and Number 1 center and start looking at upgrading our d-men. It seems Savard his lost not just one step, but 4 or 5. Del Zotto is a turn over machine. Harrington is s 7-8 dman, nothing more. Peeke may grow into his role. I do not know why Torts is still punishing Kukan. Seems we miss Nutivaara.
We miss Murray, his part-time availability notwithstanding. It meant we only needed to play Kukan or Harrington sparingly, instead of asking them to be part of the 6.
To the rest of your post, that's what I was thinking past night as well. Kukan and Harrington are depth d-men. There's a reason they're never been roster regulars, and it's not because Torts never gave the a chance. Del Zotto is a part-time player at this stage of his career, too. And Peeke just needs some more seasoning. Problem is, with the trades and Zach's injury Savard's decline, we're relying on them.
It's a bit of a perfect storm and Jarmo could have seen it coming. Although it's generally assumed he moved them to save cash and cap.
Gavrikov looks poor to me, also. I can't figure if his struggles are because of the team's struggles or if his struggles are contributing to the team's, but I had hoped to see more, I guess.
) so maybe my judgment on some Preds players right now is less than clear.
