The Athletic's article was reasonable, but it's nothing any of us haven't been saying here for well over a year now. And as Bill Guerin has locked into his bro's, giving them term and NMC's he's shutting out the young talent. He said during his press conference he wants them to push for a spot, but they've already guaranteed a spot to the 30+ year old guys.
I've been saying it for a long time now (probably over two years) that this year is the point of no-return for Kaprizov. The No Trade clause kicks in and now they have to gamble they can convince him to re-sign or he walks for nothing; and is he all that excited to play with Mats Zuccarello now as he was earlier? Not so sure. He seemed to be pretty productive playing with Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. Zuccarello looks like a lost puppy without Kaprizov, but good thing we locked him down to another 2 years with an NMC eh?
I agree with you. I didn't think the team looked nearly hungry enough, Guerin sounded like he wasn't sure what needs to be done which isn't a good sign who certainly locked into his 'vision' just prior to the start of this season. They had plenty of opportunities to seize the playoffs this season, even with injuries etc but they choked away games late and then couldn't beat anyone decent to save their lives. And to be honest...doesn't that mean they got what they deserved? They didn't deserve to be on some post-season run. I can't see them beating any of the other teams in the playoffs right now.
This team is committed to its path now. Those bad deals are done and they'll be here for a while. Will the team be able to show Kaprizov its going to be contender and get him some more help?
At what point will ownership want off this Missouri Boat Ride that Bill Guerin's put this team on?