FD19372 Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 My observations on what went wrong: 1) No scoring depth besides on the 1st line. Teams like Pittsburgh could just go top 2 heavy on defense and wear them down, and not worry. They need 2 more 20+ goal scorers on this team. 2) Another year of subpar goaltending - if Elliott is here again, I will be p*ssed. 3) Inexperience on the blueline - their top 2 have a ton of talent, but too many mistakes from a top pairing. 4) I think there is a disconnect between the coaching staff and the veteran players. I also think the coach failed too often at finding good line combinations...and sticking to them. 5) PK coaching - As much as I liked Lapperriere as a player, I think it is time to go in another direction. 6) Hesitance to shoot the puck, thus giving up prime scoring opportunities (see Ghost on several occasions today). The Penguins are the 2 time defending Cup champs, but that doesn't excuse any of these areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 22 minutes ago, FD19372 said: 2) Another year of subpar goaltending - if Elliott is here again, I will be p*ssed. If he is the starter again you should be pissed. I think it's the end of the road for Neuvy and Mrazek. Another option must be found... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ8812 Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 Elliot is garbage. I'd rather move on from him than Neuvirth, but he's always injured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmatus Posted April 23, 2018 Share Posted April 23, 2018 15 hours ago, FD19372 said: My observations on what went wrong: 1) No scoring depth besides on the 1st line. Teams like Pittsburgh could just go top 2 heavy on defense and wear them down, and not worry. They need 2 more 20+ goal scorers on this team. 2) Another year of subpar goaltending - if Elliott is here again, I will be p*ssed. 3) Inexperience on the blueline - their top 2 have a ton of talent, but too many mistakes from a top pairing. 4) I think there is a disconnect between the coaching staff and the veteran players. I also think the coach failed too often at finding good line combinations...and sticking to them. 5) PK coaching - As much as I liked Lapperriere as a player, I think it is time to go in another direction. 6) Hesitance to shoot the puck, thus giving up prime scoring opportunities (see Ghost on several occasions today). The Penguins are the 2 time defending Cup champs, but that doesn't excuse any of these areas. I actually think the top six was pretty good down the stretch. They should be even better next season with TK and Patrick taking another step forward. The big question mark for me here is Hakstol. He hasn't exactly shown himself to be very skilled at helping young talented players develop. Assuming someone takes Hak out to a corner somewhere and slaps him silly, TK and Patrick should help give us two solid lines next year. You nailed it with goaltending. Unfortunately, options are very limited right now. Most available UFA goalie picks up would likely only be lateral moves, which leaves the trade route. Are there any high potential goaltenders lingering on teams with solid starters? If so, maybe a package involving Simmonds could work. I'm not sure what's out there though. I see nothing but great things coming from Provo and Ghost. I also think Sanheim was very good and really needs to be given more ice time (back to the Hak problem). MacDonald had probably his best year ever as a Flyer this season too. That's not saying much of course, but it's something. He was a good second pairing guy this year -- overpaid but good. And really, looking at various defensive stats, the Flyers were actually quite good this season. I think the massive goaltending deficiency bears the mammoth share of the blame for defensive issues. Gudas and Manning are garbage of course, but goaltending was easily the biggest problem all year. Our PK was also awful. Hakstol was outcoached all year. Period. I know he's going to get another season at least, but I really wish he wouldn't. At the very least, the assistants need to go, and someone with actual NHL experience needs to be brought in. This should be non-negociable at this point. If Hak is to have any chance, he needs someone to show him the ropes. He should have had that from the beginning really. Keep Knoblauch for another season maybe, but can the rest and bring in someone with a backbone to help set Hakstol straight. The PK is a perfect example of this. Lappy should already be packing his office at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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