First - I’m not speaking for anyone else so a singular (fan, not fans) would be just fine. No need to generalize - you can point your finger at just me. I can handle it.
The huge point is that Lightning owners go out to get Yzerman, who builds a team where Marchessault is an extra - and who becomes one of our best! Talk about difference in drafting ability! We have Dale, who discards March for some unbelievably stupid reason. We have Dale, who won’t let go of Tippett or Borg or Noel or Bjugstad or anyone to shore up D or goalie. Instead he goes to the European leagues as if he were the only one looking there. And instead, he takes a goalie rejected by Winnipeg and not picked up by ANYONE on waivers, and now we have to use him as a starter.
This is the owners’ fault. I’m back to feeling exactly how I felt after the expansion draft. I don’t see a future because of the people in charge. Our best players are very good but if they don’t get the support any good players need, it’ll just be another frustrating failure.
The Capitals have a freaking excuse to start slow, but they are chugging along admirably. The Devils and Canes are supposed to be worse than us but hey - they aren’t. The Red Wings just beat us. Sabres, Canadiens and EVEN the freaking Senators are playing better than us. Boston keeps drafting great young players, we overrate ours and they end up as AHL lifers or on 4th lines as journeymen.
Where are at least the Tim Thomases and Eddie Belfours? Why NOT go after Panarin or Bobrovsky with a package of our supposedly talented recent draft picks?
Sorry. The same old crap year after year. This was supposed to be different. It isn’t.
I like Dale looking to Europe. It's a smart way to maybe get an edge in the cap world.
The problem is he loves bargain-bin shopping. And that's great as a secondary tool in bulding your team. Sure, scout the promising guys and sign them at bargain deals because sometimes you get a Marchessault. But you can't forget that you're bargain-bin shopping. For every great find, there'll be three or four pieces that are just okay or crap.
Signing Haapala didn't work out but it was a smart type of move - we didn't give up any assets and if it worked out, he would've been a cheap middle 6 forward. But we
counted on him to become a middle 6 guy right away while he had zero NHL experience. Another of those many things that possibly cost us the playoffs.
Same with Kiselevich this year and I like the guy. We need to improve our top4 and we get a guy with zero NHL experience? If we were still rebuilding that's fine but we're supposed to be competing.
Anyway I don't think it's the issue of not having enough talent. The goaltending is what it is but the top9 is solid. The defence for all its flaws showed last year that they
can be better than this. The special teams are killing us again and while they were horrendous to start last year, they were pretty good later in the season. They can play better than this. Just need to do it.
