Second Line Center

Great night. Great win. Only game in the league tonight. NHL network highlighting Levi and Tage and showed Marty and the Bald for Bucks initiative. Good showcase for the perceived (rightly) dysfunctional franchise tonight. I’m trying to get to a place where it’s not 13 years - but has to be seen as 3 since KA and DG started the rebuild.

What a great shift by Cozens.

Maybe Tage NEEDS to be Captain.

My take is there is absolutely something wrong with the locker room. I’m no longer buying the “oh they all love each other and hang out all the time.” No longer buying it. And fwiw, with how they’ve played overall - if guys are good with each other, again that’s a problem. If your buddy ain’t getting in your face that’s a massive problem. They can’t possibly be holding each other seriously accountable.

Sure why not…

MacKinnon and Rantanen playing over 28 minutes. They’re the first and second line. I’m not sure I’m buying Colorado as a top 3 favorite for the Cup. Great team. But way too reliant on 3 guys.

Byram 1 point in his last 6 games. He’s already infected. Leadership either behind the bench or on ice needs to change. Won’t happen before June but it’s got to happen.

Maybe maybe not but they absolutely will give him something to build on going in to 2024 most importantly the confidence and that it won’t have been 9 months since his last game when we start in October.

They're reporting he is playing tonight.

Over Skinner absolutely. And I meant 30-40 point winger on a Cup team. I don’t think he plays like he’s 6-6 230 no. Not consistently enough. I guess if our top 2 lines were producing we can live with his lack of offense. But he shouldn’t be getting 17 plus minutes a night. Those are top 6 minutes.

Every time I write his name on a line I think “this isn’t good enough WTH does this guy give me other than 8 goals?” And I may be biased bc currently that “pass” against Detroit is etched into my brain as literally the moment the season ended. It was so bad on a team that makes plenty of mistakes him doing that as a supposed responsible player is just inexcusable to me. He’s going to get 3 million next year. To be reliable defensively. We need a 40-50 point winger that is responsible defensively the only guy right now close to that is Tuch. And my God. If you’re 6-6 and 230 lbs - you need to play like it. I’m sorry. He’s just not remotely nasty and it ticks me off. We don’t need a guy that plays 17 minutes a night currently to suck the offense out of a line. He has 14 points since December 23. 3 million dollars.

Greenway is borderline useless to me. He does some good things as a 3rd line defensive forward. That’s all I got. I’d go: Benson - TT - Tuch JPP - Cozens - Quinn Skinner - Krebs - Greenway Robinson - Jost - Girgenson

Skinner - 12 minutes TOI LOL

Someone posted after last game were something like 5-7 points behind last years team.

Well it’s the Caps who are the problem now they’ve just beaten Vancouver Carolina and Winnipeg in the last week. Washington is winning because their studs are on fire when they needed them most. OV is at 26 goals now. 8 goals in the first 43 games. 8 in his last 5 games. Its over. And we need to seriously ask how that team is doing what they are and we look as painfully mediocre and inconsistent as we do.

It was over when we lost to Detroit last week.

Sure they are - less so Byram and Power - but they’re nowhere near their ceilings and I’m not down on Power like some. This was primed to be a Quinn breakout year - delayed. Just good to see him healthy. Levi, Benson, JJ absolutely still prospects. I didn’t take the question to necessarily mean what 18-20 year olds will help us.

We need to replace a Greenway with a guy built like him but actually plays how he’s built. We need to replace Skinner with a guy that is as skilled as him but tries. Introduce Tage to the Deadlift. Problems solved.

Benson, Quinn, Levi, JJ, Power, Dahlin, Byram

Skinner (9 million per) played 11 minutes. We’re not winning anything or going anywhere so long as he is on the roster. One of your most skilled and highest paid players cannot be one of your laziest. He doesn’t deserve to be singled out - but this dynamic is such a massive problem imo.

I’m going to need to hear UPL call this team out or something.

UPL NOT HAPPY WOW SOME EMOTION

Outscored 5-1 in last 36 minutes.

Greenway has played over 17 minutes Thompson has played 13 Nothing about this team makes sense.

Detroit’s win over Columbus like I said….that will be looked back at as what saved their season when they clinch 8th. F.