We draft “character” and “hockey iq” over “skill” and “finesse” and it really shows. Draper just drafts guys who resemble him the most. Thats why besides Larkin, we have no home grown top talent.
True, but look at the LA Kings when they won and how they do every year. They have what 2-4 guys that have high end skill and the rest of the team is average but knows their rolls. They also had Quick and played to his strengths to minimize the weaknesses.
This is what this roster is going to round out to be and I don't hate it. The problem is the system or lack thereof. We have a few players on the roster and in GR that have the high end skill and if we surround them with guys that can insulate them, then we will have a perennial playoff contender.
Get a goalie for the next 3-5 years, continue to develop Cossa who is starting to get comfortable and will now most likely have an increased roll until Hutchinson gets sent back down, then start slowly bringing up the rookies while continuously stocking up GR and insulating the rookies in the NHL. Then you become a factory instead of a dealership.
I don't agree with keeping Ed down anymore; however, I think we would be foolish to not understand why he wasn't in the starting lineup. There is going to be plenty of room this offseason to give rookies the chance while (hopefully, not likely anymore...sadface) we have gained playoff experience to our top guys for that to rub off on rookies. I think guys like Soderblom, Mazur, Danielson, Kasper, Ed, and maybe ALJO make a case to make the team next year (obviously not all of them at once, but never know I suppose). Rasmussen is probably going to get a 1 year deal similar to veleno (maybe more money) as a last chance type situation because Soderblom could be the next Rasmussen, essentially.
For next offseason, I'd rather us not go for more depth and try to get one more guy that could make us go 3 deep scoring lines with attitude. Someone like Toffoli (I doubt he makes it to FA). Toffoli plays both sides, proves he can score on multiple teams so it really doesn't matter who he is playing with and we can have a winger group of Kane (potentially...I would resign him right now tbh), dbc, raymond, toffoli in our top 6.
dbc - larkin - kane
toffoli - compher - raymond
With the sophomore slump over for raymond, this could be disgusting. But I digress.
Yzerman is trying to build a factory. He wants long-lasting excellence and I want that. Most fans should want that. In order to do that, you need players to last a long time in the league and to pan-out. The way that can happen is high IQ players know not to put themselves into sticky situations (lidstrom) and that'll help them with their longevity and usually high iq players are great mentors like yzerman -> lidstrom -> zetterberg -> larkin -> danielson/kasper/seider?