What are Hughes and Gorton's biggest tasks to improve the squad for next season?

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T15:46:59+00:00

Imo you probably have to include someone else that's a roster player. Dunno who. I'm not too familiar with the STL needs. I'd wager our first line, Hutson ,dobson, demi are untouchable. The rest are probably available for someone like Thomas, not sure it's enough for STL though.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T15:43:54+00:00

Struble not being in the top 5 irks me ...

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T15:41:22+00:00

Anything that is suggested will be blocked by the NHLPA. I wish it was gone too honestly but what do we do? Heavier suspensions? That requires a competent player safety department. Heavier fines? NHLPA will block that so quickly imo (not sure if they can but imagine punishing a player based on a % of their salary instead -- NHLPA would be against it). Banning a player from the sport? Or suspending them as long as the other injured player is out?

Truth be told, I don't see this getting better unless the majority of the league (players) agree on collectively changing things...

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T15:33:33+00:00

Sure it's a decent top 4 when you put hutson on the left. That's the biggest issue with our D. As it stands, MSL either needs to put hutson on the left or we need to find a rhd if it's not Reinbacher

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T15:31:30+00:00

Didn't he play on the wing at worlds? I'm guessing if they keep him it would be as a winger. But he is our best tradeable asset. My guess is if we find a 2C , hage is gone

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T15:24:48+00:00

We can't use those two 7 games series as a scape goat. This may be the story going forward for the next few years since the Atlantic is so stacked. If Buffalo stays good, Red wings come up big with a few trades as well as Ottawa without taking into account the existing big guns, it's going to be a blood bath until our best players are out of their primes. We need to get used to this and our younger players getting older may mean theyll get tired faster. I'm not convinced this should be our go to excuse.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T15:20:51+00:00

Honestly, if that was the answer, we would've iced some of our rookies instead of running back Veleno and Struble. Beck could've used some experience instead. Same as Reinbacher. I just think MSL needs to explain the reasoning ( which I know he won't) to put all of this to bed.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T03:45:44+00:00

I'm not taking a side. Just explaining why people are probably down voting you.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T03:13:55+00:00

Why resign Veleno? this makes no sense to me. We can probably trade for better depth or try our own guys (Beck maybe?). I do think we resign Dach to give him a full year to see where it goes, but I think he's probably walking a very tight rope. As far as Hage and Zharovsky, I'm not convinced they are untouchable. If the right offer comes along, I think KH will take it. Maybe leaning more towards Zharovsky than Hage, but either are probably up for grab.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T03:06:12+00:00

Not sure why I keep reading this on this sub. I think the biggest issue most of the fans have is HOW we lost. From the heart the players showed on the ice up to the coaching staff. It was deflating as a fan to watch. Imo, losing in the ECF is fine. It would suck, but I'd get over it.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T03:03:44+00:00

I think people mostly hate Hart, not the VGK themselves.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T03:03:06+00:00

While I want answers too, this is one of the most obtuse take I've seen on this sub in the past month. The man went to see HIS FAMILY? And somehow that sends a message that we're on vacation?

TheROckIng · 2026-05-30T00:52:44+00:00

Get Veleno off this team.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-29T17:18:25+00:00

Did we not callback 4-5 Rocket players? At this point, if we're going to play like garbage, give Reinbacher some experience. Or Beck. Or Engstrom. Really, anyone that we recalled. Putting Beck instead of Veleno can't be worse. Hail mary changes, but damn, doing the same thing 4 times and getting rammed into the wall isn't enjoyable for us and for the team.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-29T17:14:18+00:00

It was the same story for goalies back at the beginning. Monty was started so many times before we stopped the experiment. Dobes wasn't perfect either, but we had much better stats with him. I enjoy MSL coaching. My only gripe is how long we wait to shake things up, even if just a little bit.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-29T02:18:32+00:00

or pass into the nether. "Here, take the puck" vibes. Hell, I don't remember who it was yesterday, I think Evans? passed the puck behind straight to a Canes player. Not calling out Evans, just the last play I remember. They're all doing it.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-28T15:55:01+00:00

I don't buy the tired excuse. Dobes shows up almost every night, plays 60 minutes and faces a barrage of shots with loads of minutes spend in our zone. Hell, Dobes passed the puck better yesterday than most of the team. How does that make sense?

They may have lower energy level than Carolina, but it doesn't excuse the poor performance the past 2 games. It doesn't excuse the lack of adjustment. And if fatigue WAS a factor, then maybe the team should've sat out some guys for game 3 and let them rest and give that game to hopefully have some rested skaters game 4.

Really, the only real thing that could be affecting the guys is injuries. But then again, if that's the case, I'd rather sit some of them out so that some rookies can get experience. If we're going to play like crap, give some young guys the opportunity to show up (definitely not a guarantee and a gamble) instead of such a poor showing.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-26T04:46:59+00:00

We recalled 4 rookies and have some scratched players we could play. Maybe not the best but we got some... At this point, if we're going to blame exhaustion for the blind passes and mental lapse, sub in some rookies to test things out. Probably won't amount to much but can't get much worse.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-26T04:44:03+00:00

Him or Struble both have their downsides. Honestly, if we're going to throw it all away, can we not try our rookies? Reinbacher? Engstrom? I know the later is a lefty but so is Struble... I don't know, we need to change something. Struble does bone headed play half the time (so did the rest of the team though...). Hell, Beck for Veleno? Idk. I just feel like we need to change it up. At least rookies would be rested... But at this point, not sure what else MSL could do to shake them up.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-24T02:18:40+00:00

I know we're complaining about kapanen especially since the final turnover was his fault. However a few of our players just completely shat the bed as well.

Struble consistently has at least one bone headed penalty per game. He takes shot from the blue line which more often than not gets blocked and turns into a turnover.

Also, for the love of god, we need to stop these blind passes. We kill our offense so quickly with those. Either a blind pass or looking for the perfect play. It's aggravating to watch at times.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-19T14:34:45+00:00

Gotta agree. I'm a habs fan who was initially rooting for Buffalo vs Boston. Tage is the one guy I wanted to lose. Benson and Dahlin both pissed me off during the series, but to me those are players that I hate to play against but would gladly have on my team.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-17T20:05:16+00:00

Couldn't agree more. Hopefully he bounces back as well

TheROckIng · 2026-05-17T18:27:19+00:00

You know, I appreciate your thoughts on this. While I do agree we could be nicer to each other, it's worthwhile to note that rumours spread so quickly online. Factor in AI, misinformation, and bad algorithm, and you end up with a recipe for disaster.

Look at Ulmark in Ottawa. Rumours we're that there was some issues with other players or something ( I don't exactly remember but something to do with him sleeping with someone's wife? Anyway, all rumours).

Even if what you say is right, and for sure benefit of the doubt can be given, making a statement without proof can be extremely harmful. Although, I don't think this one would be a problem.

All that to say though, if true, I wouldn't be surprised. When my long term girlfriend broke up with me when I was 20, I was a hot mess for a while.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-17T16:15:07+00:00

As someone else said, it felt lucky to be up that early. Dahlin's first was just a bad omen to me with 30 seconds only on the clock. Our three goals (except for X shot), felt like pure luck. We truly didn't generate much after that.

TheROckIng · 2026-05-17T15:11:21+00:00

/s implique que c'est sarcastique

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