the Cunning Linguist wrote:
Pokecheque wrote:
High-level defensemen raise your floor, but high-level forwards raise your ceiling. One thing about the Nashville, they always had a very good stable of defensemen, but their forward corps has always been merely good. I really think even the best of defensemen can only do so much--you have to have someone up front, preferably a center, who can break through and create something out of nothing when the occasion calls for it.
Interesting perspective. But even with a young, possibly elite defenseman and a great center, VAN couldn't break through; a team still needs depth that contributes. VAN's top 6 plus Hughes were enough to overcome MIN; the bottom half of the lineup and Markstrom stepped up to outplay ROR, Pietrangelo and the rest of the Blues. VAN really needed a second or third puck-moving defenseman who can help get the puck up and out quickly. BXA had a great observation in the first intermission of Game 7 when he said that the VGK 2-1-2 forecheck had VAN's defence on their heels so much that it was all hands on deck to get the puck out, then retrieve the puck when Vegas had it in their end, and by the time the forwards came back and were able to support the defence out with the puck, it was 45-60 seconds into their shift and all they could do was dump the puck in and change lines... I don't expect another Hughes-type but just someone who can handle the puck well. Like him or not, once Minors got his feet under him (I still maintain he rushed back from injury), he was pretty effective and a nice complement to Hughes.
I'm still not totally convinced that they shouldn't re-sign Markstrom, but I do have faith in the opinions of Ian Clarke and if he thinks Demko can take over the #1 reigns with enough lead time, then sure. They could re-sign Domingue and it's supposed to be a fairly broad field of UFA goalies.
We should probably retire this thread and move the last few posts to the Cannots thread...
If I'm Benning, I'm immediately on the phone with both Holland and Treliving and creating a bidding war for Markstrom's negotiating rights. Maybe get a midlevel pick out of it. If cap room was a luxury then they could have entertained the notion of retaining Markstrom, but they don't, so it's time to move on. That's probably for the best anyway. At least with Domingue you retain his adept baking skills.
Next item: Explore every single, solitary possibility of dumping the contracts of Lurch, Suddah, Roussel, Beagle, and Eriksson. Obviously there's no way you can dump them all, but maybe you'll succeed in getting rid of a couple. If Shotgun Jake has to be packaged up just to get rid of one of the more expensive ones, so be it. Maybe Lind, whose development appears to have very badly stalled, can be another chip you throw at someone to take a bad deal, a la Lawson Crouse. It's the only way they can shed enough salary to retain Toffoli/Tanev and keep the roster intact enough for another run before you have to sign Pettersson and Hughes to contracts that will no doubt be VERY expensive.
As far as defensive depth goes, maybe Juolevi is ready, but man, if he ain't ready by next year to at least take on a third pairing role, then he's veering into bust territory. But from what I've heard/read, he should be ready for a depth role, and that's your puckmover who at least helps your team not get stuck in their own end.
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