I agree with most of what you say, but I am doubtful that Englund will be the type of player we want to add. I hope Englund and Harpur become that type of player which we desperately need on D. We need some big mean physical players at F too. This team is too soft right now and needs some players who make things tough on other teams’ fancy forwards.
You're right, it's not an arguement for Englund per say but more of an argument to have a tougher team that is much harder to play against.
None of them should be playing in the NHL The fact that all three are on this team has a direct correlation to the sens allowing 300 + goals.
When was the last time a team allowed 300 plus goals does anyone know? Id imagine it would have to be in the mid 2000's after the lockout.
Englund has played three games in the NHL to associate him with those stats is plain wrong & another example of what people are willing to say on here because they don't like those kind of players. Ben Harpur has played 51 games this yr & Boro has played in 53 games this yr, why people constantly blame 3rd pairing defencemen for all that is wrong with this team is just plain wrong. Every org likes a good soldier, talented players who don't tow the company line or don't play the right way coaches expect or are not good in the room eventually get moved out regardless of their skill set & we have seen that a few times. The players that people loved on this team were not making it happen, this team was still terrible with EK, Stone, Duchene & Dzingel. These are the guys that are expected to win games & get this team in the playoffs & they were unable to do it, nobody depends on Boro to get the team in the playoffs.
Something had to be done, that is the business side of sports that if your team sucks you have to make changes & it was decided to rebuild. If those defensive defencemen were the reason this team is in the basement they could easily have replaced them & most would not have noticed or cared. They did not do that, instead they traded away their best players to return the most assets possible in order to add to their stock of prospects & rebuild towards the future, rightly or wrongly. Boro, Harpur or even Englund are not going to stop them from being a contender, they probably won't even be here in a few yrs. But they will need some mentally & physically tough players seeing as how fighting isn't quite out of hockey just yet. And of course, they will need more skilled players & they are adding them.
White, Tkachuk & Chabot are three good skilled young players on the team, next yr I expect Brown, Batherson & Formenton could be on the team. Beyond them they have JBD, Norris & Brannstrom all good young skilled players. People are always crying about the top elite players is what we need, but how do you get a guy like that other than by winning the lottery? You can be in the lottery, Buffalo has been a couple of times & still not get the best player. IMO you cannot depend on winning a lottery & need to rebuild the team by any means necessary & not necessarily at the very top of the draft unless you are a terrible team the yr before & lucky enough to win the lottery which is rare. Col may not win the lottery. Only one team wins the lottery each yr, you cannot depend on it, you have to develop players yourself & IMO that is what they are trying to do. You can do everything right & still some players just simply do not turn out or don't have their heart in it or simply don't want it enough or will coast on their skill set. It's so much harder to build a team than people realize when dealing with so many different kind of players & people.