Logical Progression wrote:
Is this the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning for Tampa? Seems to me that Maroon was more of a "heart" signing, which would indicate they need more of it but who knows, maybe it just comes down to roster management. It's hard to dominate that long with that degree of talent and come up so flat. They could win the President's trophy again or just miss the playoffs. Either way, Coop must be on the hot seat.
Hard to say. I would say their window is officially beginning to close now that they no longer have any core players on ELCs and Brayden Point is up for a huge raise. Stamkos is on the verge of 30, Kucherov is 26, Hedman 28, Vasilevskiy 25. The good news for them is that Point is still ridiculously young at 23, and they somehow keep finding astoundingly good talent (like Point) in later rounds. I think they have 2 years before we start seeing Stamkos hit his decline, then I think they might be in a bit of trouble. Also by then they'll have to start jettisoning more and more talent on the fringes because the core players are getting too expensive. If they don't win a Cup in the next 2-3 years, I can't help but think they won't with the current core.
Cooper probably is on the hot seat, yeah. Come next year at least a couple decent candidates will be on the market, and if they have another disappointing finish BriseBois may opt to move in a different direction, though I think he signed a relatively cheap extension, so he has that going for him.