Tough Break - Giant beats down the Giant Killer.

  I had lingering questions all year about this team.  I couldn't get the goaltending figured out.  Regardless of how many shots we took we couldn't score enough.  The special teams we're unimpressive until the last stretch of the season.  I'm happy we got past Florida but we barely put up a fight against the Lightning.  The biggest issue was generating shots.  We didn't create enough opportunities to take advantage of our great scorers.  Pacioretty was a major bust recording zero goals and four assits with a -5 rating over the eleven game playoff run.  That could be why leading scorer Patrick Kane was not the leading scorer for the Habs in the post season.  Anthony Duclair, for all his talent, continued his lackluster ways with only two points.

  There were a few positives to take away.  Trocheck led the team in points despite playing a second line role.  He's proven to be a solid playoff performer year after year and is making it easy for me to offer him a new contract in the off season.  Devon Toews looked good with 8 points.  Mike Smith had a fantastic playoffs recording a 92.05% save percentage.  That number would have made him the best keeper in the league over the regular season.  The faceoff circle was magical with my top three guys going over 60% including 65% for Giroux and 64% for Trocheck.

  So what's the take away here?  We had a good season with enough challenges to keep me tuned in night after night trying to find a solution.  I made many trades trying to adress the issues plaguing the team.  I added depth players for injuries that never came but these guys are still on the roster next season.  The roster is full for 2023 despite the expansion draft and that won't cost the team much anyway.  Young studs Devon Toews and Duclair are expected to take a big step forward next year.

  The glaring issues are staring me right in the face.  Mike Smith and Max Pacioretty will be testing free agency.  Captain Shea Weber is leaning towards retirement and the expansion draft will still take another roster player away and that will be felt even if it is a bottom six guy.  Casey DeSmith is slated to start for us next year and that is not a desirable situation.  The prospect pool has been depleted to about 3-5 guys who could help in the next few years and we only have three picks in the upcoming draft.  Five players are owed a raise this year and Weber's salary coming off the books is the only reason we can afford it so we should be right back against the cap ceiling in the spring unless we can make some moves.

  So my core of players is mostly intact.  There is no reason to believe that this team won't be competitive next season but the "all in" mentality has to take a back seat to commen sense and long term thinking.  The East is a bitch and I can't expect to stay near the top if I take a step backwards next year.  Expect the Habs to go back to the traditional trades that bring in youth and picks, then trade those kids and picks for vets, then trade those vets for kids and picks, then...

  At the end of the day, I had fun going hard for the cup and I finished ahead of Steve as I will for all eternity.