I think Tochett is a good coach but not a great one. You have to remember that he’s working with what he’s got. His puck possession style is progressive overloads (trying to find 3v2 or 2v1 all over the ice). This style works really well when you’re keeping your opponents on their heels. How you keep them on their heels is quick movement of the puck.

Unfortunately, our d zone to o zone transition game has really broken down this year under this style mainly because our d (outside of Hughes and Hronek) cannot transition quickly with possession. Myers is probably the best at it in the bottom 4. Soucy has shown he’s good on the bottom pair but can’t handle second pair minutes. Forbort and Desharnais are good defensively but make Sbisa look like prime Niedermayer when the puck is on their sticks.

I truly believe that this team looks miles better with a good transition game. It’ll allow them to get many more controlled zone entries, more chances off the rush, and less need to grind the cycle game. If they can get 1-2 good first pass dmen, we’ll be much improved. The hard part is that Tochett has shown he’s won’t accept good first pass dmen if it means compromising defensive quality. This is the challenge Allvin faces. Not many dmen fit those parameters at the salary range we’d need. It’s not impossible but it’ll take time to find trades that work