I thought Leo was very good in the first two periods and just pretty good in the third. I'll still take a performance where he showed hustle, confidence, and focus even if he didn't show up on the score sheet.
I think anyone with eyes should realize what a positive impact Z has on this team when he's confident and allowed to play his own way.
And with Gibson, yeah I really don't like being critical of him but it's hard not to see a guy who at best is unmotivated and prone to emotional surrenders when things don't go his way, and at worst is an active cancer in the lineup. Either way, even though he plays a unique position, he's supposed to be a veteran setting a good example, and he hasn't been. The development of our youth is the most important thing and they need to be surrounded by players who take pride in their game. Moving on from Gibby for that reason outweighs whatever sunken cost dedication to seeing him return to form this team seems obsessed with.
I don't think the contract is the issue and maybe I am harder on him than I should be just because of the value of that contract but for me it's more about wanting to see that he will eventually be upgraded on. In today's NHL, a big part of team success comes from effective puck movement at high speeds. Frustration stems from seeing pucks die on individual players' sticks and everyone on the team has been guilty of it on a team level but some more than others and Strome falls in that group of guys who kills plays and, conversely, offensive momentum and flow with passes to the wrong team. I'm critical of Terry for the same reason.
There's a lot of factors contributing to why this team is still in lottery range so yeah it feels like a lot of people are singling him out and sure, yeah he's fine for what he is, but I feel like fine on a lottery team isn't very good. I give the younger guys more of a pass because they're still learning, but Strome has been in the league for quite some time now and I'd like to see better play from him for how much money he makes.