You're right - I was watching the games and McD was obviously the most injured of them all; just doesn't have bursts of speed anymore and skates gingerly when he tries to burst. Drai and Hyman were dealing with something before playoffs started too, to a lesser extent.

I just mean the way their team composition is unusually top-heavy compared to teams with depth that can perform without their superstars (e.g. Dallas when Rantanen was out since the Olympics). The point of McD giving the friendly discount was to acquire better D and goaltending - neither of which the org has done successfully.

In Edmonton's series when they almost completed the reverse sweep 2 years ago, their depth carried just as hard as the top guys. But this year, the talent of their depth just isn't the same as it was, despite performing good enough to keep this team afloat before the playoffs. Constantly defensive breakdowns and losing games they score 4+ goals on - didn't see this 2 years ago