The Randy Carlyle system only works if you have an outstanding goalie and some forwards who can shoot the lights out. If things work out perfectly and you get both of those at the exact same time, it is very possible for it to work. But eventually the dam is going to break when your team is giving up 35 shots per game, not generating anywhere near as many and spending all of its time pinned in its own zone. At some point you cannot be 100 percent dependent on your goalie, no matter how good he is, to withstand that much pressure. There is talent on this team, but it is not being utilized in the best way.
The easy answer here is they need some better injury luck because their injury list this season is just completely ridiculous. But that is taking the short-term outlook. Long-term outlook is that they need a game-changing forward to build around. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is an outstanding cornerstone on the blue line, and they have some really intriguing young players they can build around. But they are still missing an elite, top-line forward to build their offense around. That is also the toughest thing to get. They were hopeful that Dylan Strome would be that player, but it never really worked out.
They have one of the best top lines in hockey, they have a solid defense and they have two goalies playing outstanding hockey this season. All of that is great and could be the foundation of a Stanley Cup contender. The problem is that top line is the only one really capable of producing offense. They need more because one-line teams do not typically go far in the playoffs, especially if they get stuck in the Atlantic Division bracket of the Eastern Conference playoffs where they will probably have to go through Tampa Bay and Toronto.
The Buffalo Sabres may not end up making the playoffs, but they hit a home run this season with the addition of Jeff Skinner. Now they need to get him signed long term. There was always some amount of risk to the deal because Skinner, one of the league’s best goal-scorers, did not have a contract beyond this season. But he has been such a perfect fit on Jack Eichel’s wing that they need to do whatever they can to get him a long-term deal. He and Eichel could be a dominant force at the top of the lineup for the next six or seven years and perhaps be the cornerstone of the next contending team in Buffalo.
Calgary Flames (goaltending)
This has been one of the biggest surprise teams in the league this season, not only in their ability to jump up to a likely playoff spot but also because they might just be one of the best teams in the league. Unfortunately their only big weakness is probably the one that can hurt them the most: goaltending. Mike Smith has not played well and while David Rittich has been a huge surprise, is he really the type of goalie who is going to backstop a team to a championship? This might need to be addressed at the trade deadline so an otherwise outstanding team does not get sunk in the playoffs.
Every year it is the same story for the Carolina Hurricanes. They generate a ton of shots, they do not give up any shots, and they still end up finishing somewhere outside of the playoff picture in the NHL’s middle ground. Part of it is the fact their goaltending has consistently been an issue and submarined their team. The other part is they just don’t have enough finishers offensively who can capitalize on their chances. They obviously hope No. 2 overall pick Andrei Svechnikov can help fill that in the future, and Nino Niederreiter was a great pickup from the Minnesota Wild. But they are going to need more than those two if they are going to become the team everyone always thinks they can become.
Even if they don’t make a drastic trade involving one of their core players the Chicago Blackhawks are still going to have a little bit of salary cap flexibility this summer. At least more than they have had in the past. They could still use someone to take on Brent Seabrook’s contract, and they could really use a consistently healthy Corey Crawford in net, but what this team really needs is more young players to take a big step forward. Alex DeBrincat looks like a star, and Dylan Strome has played well since coming over from Arizona. They need to find a couple of more players like them in their next wave of young talent to complement the two big-money stars at the top of the lineup (who are still producing at top-line levels) if they are going to return to being a contender in the near future.
Just like the Boston Bruins, this is a team that is only going to go as far as its top-line can carry it. Fortunately for the Colorado Avalanche, their top line is perhaps the best in the business. But there is not anywhere near enough on this roster after them to help carry the load come playoff time…assuming they get there. They have three of the top-25 scorers in the league, but they can’t do it alone. Still, given how young they are all and the fact they are going to likely get a top-five pick in the draft, and perhaps even the No. 1 overall as a result of owning the Ottawa Senators’ 2019 pick, there is still a great future ahead of this team with the right complementary parts added to it.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are in a no-win position right now. They are a playoff team but are on the verge of losing their best player, Artemi Panarin, because he seems destined to test the unrestricted free-agent market after this season. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen is going to listen to trade offers but unless he gets absolutely blown away by something, he needs to keep Panarin this season for one more run at the playoffs. What the Blue Jackets need, though, is for Panarin to change his mind and reconsider his position. He is arguably the second-best player who has ever come through the Blue Jackets organization, and it is going to be nearly impossible for them to replace him next season if he moves on to a new team.
The biggest and most bizarre story in the first half of the season was Dallas Stars CEO Jim Lites loudly and profanely ripping his best players, Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, for the team’s struggles. He did this while absolving general manager Jim Nill of any and all responsibility for the consistent mediocrity of the team when Lites is the one who constructed the roster that has almost zero depth after its top three or four players. The drafts have not been good. The free-agent signings and trades have included some busts. A ton of money is spent on a team that cannot even consistently make the playoffs. It all starts at the top, and in Dallas the top is where things are going wrong.
By: Adam Gretz
