Junkyard Dog

My favorite moment will be when people stop talking about him.

The Vegas series just summed up our season. We have a good offensive core group but rely too much on goaltending. This season is weird since the goaltending is fine(despite us losing Marky) and our strengths(which have been our special teams) have been flat. Last year our most consistent lines, being our 1st and 4th line, were great and so far this season they've been our two worst lines. Given the fact that those two lines make up our 1st unit PP and 1st unit PK it is a major problem. Overall a weird start. Head scratching.

Yeah they are not gonna last long and you’ll have to play him eventually because of injury. So he should aim for a little more longevity. At this point he should get some PK time. He hasn’t been deployed there at all and the strengths reported out of Utica were from his PK ability. Not gonna know anything till you try TG. Not like things can get worse than 7/21 on the PK.

Out of all the problems we have you singled out the one that's the least of our problems.

Virtanen is the very personification of You never know what you're gonna get out of him.

I feel that divisional trades could be amplified. Also that a player from a Canadian division would be okay with moving to a different Canadian team Lets say a team like the Habs are interested in a guy like Pearson but another Canadian team wants him as well as not want the Habs to acquire him. Could make for a sellers market. Imagine if Edler was willing to move this year. I imagine the Flames/Oilers/Leafs would be willing to pay good for him.

You bring him in as an assistant that would definitely stir the pot and at least be interesting. If the team still struggles then can Green and give him the reigns. Would be entertaining for us in that scenario.

That's not an easy answer. Gallant maybe because he's worked with youngstars in FLA and I don't think Babs would be good here. Could do that as a first step.

Yeah that's why I say give Greener 8-12 more games(I know you'd do it asap). Give the new coach at least 1/2 or 2/3 of the season to learn the roster and teach the players. Better prepare them for next year in this sort of scenario. Habs have given us trouble the last few years and we play them for the next 3 games... This next week could be a pivotal moment for the teams mental.

If things keep trending the way they are some of that cap could free up by TD. Could stock up on picks. It is probably the last year we could afford to draft top 5. We're gonna be stepping into prime years with this core soon after. Give some youth some time this year. Give it till 8-12 more games to see if things go way out of hand. If they do can Green, trade some vets and give the new coach the rest of the year to work with the roster.

I pondered the possibility of us taking a step back this year. We had issues with team D We relied a lot on goaltending and were losing our MVP. Lost key pieces and replaced them with unknowns. We had some struggles last year vs Canada. But I never imagined us playing like this. Our goalies are fine but our special teams have crapped the bed. Our strengths haven't been strengths. This play is head scratching. It's like we've forgotten what makes us good.

4th and 1st lines have been way off when last year, they were some of our better lines most nights. Not surprising as these two lines are off so are the special teams. Nothing has changed with them. Motte is still with Beagle, Lotto line still together. To me that's not a roster issue.

Yeah but last year we relied waaaay too much on Marky. In the playoffs Demko was the only reason it got to game 7. Not exactly a recipe for success when you rely that much on goaltending to win. It's weird this year because are goalies are fine and the team in front sucks big time.

More concerned with the team in front of the goalies than the goalies. Shouldn't have to rely on a goalie stealing games to win.

Thing is our 4th line was pretty good last year and in the playoffs. Now our 4th line and 1st line players are way off. People who were a part of a PP and PK that was a lot better last year. That isn't a roster personnel issue. The roster isn't a contending team but it is most certainly way better than it is playing.