Bednar was venting about our 3rd liners all playoff long in press conferences. Namestnikov started the playoffs on the top line and worked his way all the way down by being totally anonymous for the most part. If he's brought back on a cheap deal I won't complain as he doesn't cost us anything to acquire, but I do think we need some significant improvement from that "3rd" line (which was effectively our 4th line against Dallas).
I actually think Nichuskin was better when he was on the 2nd line. On the 3rd line he didn't accomplish much of anything. Perhaps he needs to play with other big bodies who can keep the cycle game going, like Landeskog instead of smaller forwards like Namestnikov or Jost.
Well yeah, he didnt accomplish much offensively anywhere. I just thought he was more noticeable on the 2nd line.
If Cole was Ok, it wouldn’t matter. But he’s so far from ok. He’s a turnover waiting to happen. His defense sucks. His transition sucks. His effort level sucks. His offense sucks. He flat out sucks. All this hand wringing over Graves or Z. The inconsistency. Sure. They are inconsistent. Cole is consistent in how much sucks. Sucks. If he’s didn’t suck, he would have gotten more ice time in the playoffs. If Byram is somehow worse than Cole next year, we have a Byram problem on top of our Cole problem.
Did you watch Cole in the playoffs? He can’t complete a pass. Can’t stick handle or skate. He can’t go two shifts without a turnover. He can’t defend. Doesn’t protect the net. Can’t kill penalties. Can’t key transition.
If we have surplus capspace then Cole would be fine as 7D as insulation for Byram and Timmins, assuming of course that he's ok with that role.
Well Graves played with Makar, who he IMHO held back quite a bit.
No team has a surplus of cap space to spend on a bum like Cole. Sakic does this team a massive favor trading Cole, even if it costs a pick or prospect and spending that money elsewhere. Someone like DeMelo that actually tries to defend and clear the net. Don’t really care if the replacement can skate or pass because Cole can’t. But they do need to try harder than Cole does. And they need to at least be able to chip the puck off the glass and out, another thing Cole can’t do because he’s busy turning it over instead. Our Cole replacement just needs to play harder and smarter on the Pk and in his own zone. Not much to ask. Lots of guys fit this bill. They just need to bigger and try harder than Cole does.
I’d would fall all over myself running into a trade Cole and our 3rd round pick for a 7th round pick in 2027. A 3rd round pick to free up a roster spot wasted on that clown and 4.25mm in found cap space is a dream that won’t come true.
Gonna be real disappointed when he's in our top 4!
