Unlike 99% of the posters on sports forum I don't have all the answers. Obviously neither does Montgomery, at least not based on what we're seeing. Granted the games are played on ice not paper but going down the roster player by player this is a more talented roster than last year's everywhere but in net. The two biggest 'losses' were DeBrusk and Grzelcyk. Is there anyone here who thinks Jake DeBrusk is a better player than Elias Lindholm? As much as I loved Grzelcyk's speed and pluck he got knocked off the puck far too easily, historically that's not something that happens to Zadarov very often. Heinen caught some lightning in a bottle the front 2/3's of last season but tailed off and certainly was adequately replaced by Kastelic. The problem isn't the caliber of the individual replacements, the problem is the way all of the players play as a team.
Pasta is who he is, he's a finisher. Players who regularly find the back of the net at the rate he does are rare and as a result teams tolerate the holes in their games, the B's are no exception in that regard. Hell, arguably the greatest offensive player of all time couldn't find his own end on a map and Pasta isn't close to that bad.
Maybe Marchand is cooked or maybe he's a bit slow bouncing back from three off-season procedures but he's still bringing it every night, can't question his grit. Past performance indicates he's a player who thrives on his minutes hopefully his game picks up with them, he's not a guy I'd bet against that way but ofc Father Time is undefeated.
McAvoy's play I am at a loss to understand. His strength was always in his intuitive hockey sense and fluidity. Now it's obvious he's trying to do too much and drastically over thinking his game In fact he's sorta representative of the team that way. He's playing tight, thinking instead of doing which a lot of them seem to have going on.
There has to be room on every NHL roster for a Poitras, a young (very in his case) player with huge upside talent working towards finding his game at the NHL level. On the flip side Max Jones doesn't belong in an NHL uniform, period.
I see a team that's looking for the perfect pass but seemingly incapapable of making it being coached by a guy whose forte is team fundamentals. The D is not clearing the zone commandingly. The forwards aren't shooting near enough or going to the net when someone finally does, it's maddening. All 18 players couldn't have suddenly forgotten how the team game is played but that's sure what it looks like out there
I'm at a loss to understand it.
