Maybe not the worst game the Stars have played but certainly the worst ending. The defense is TIRED without Miro; Esa had a shift where he was on the ice for 3 minutes plus. Harley looks like he is needing some rest too. I agree, some of our D men are punching above their weight. When Stars went up 5-2 they pretty much took their foot off the gas. Plus stupid penalties again. I hope Benn and Duchene had a players meeting to sort some of the character stuff out.
Ceci was clearly not the RD to target. Maybe the Stars are better positioned in the future with Rantanen but the lack of a competent RD will haunt Nill for the rest of his career.
I agree, but by all accounts Ceci was part of a package deal for Granlund. So would you be willing to make the argument that losing Ceci would be fine if it meant losing Granlund?
You don't get a chance at a Rantanen level player often...if ever. That was the correct move. As far as acquiring a RD, show me the player you think Nill could have gotten for Stankoven and 4 picks. That level of player, especially a RD, is *never* available at the TD. Not signing Tanev for the extra two years was also the correct move.
He's still got it between the ears and more than enough in the tank to get through a playoff run this season.
As an offensive educational tool for the defensive group, I stand by the concept of Karlsson as an add.
I think Suter's time in Dallas aided in Harley's understanding of his defensive game and is a (not the) reason we seen as much growth from him as we have. The offensive answer keys that Karlsson could have brought would have been a nice investment in Harley, Bichsel, & Miro's careers moving forward, imo.
I don't doubt that, but was our forward core really in need of a Mikko Rantanen?
We added a new foundational peice late season, a factor towards the team making early season mistakes once again.
The learning curve on getting Moose as a #1 contributer is worth the time spent in the regular season, but if things don't gel by the 1st round we're done.
I do think the addition of Karlsson would have better addressed the issue currently with the back end, as he'd atleast be able to get Harley a breath in game. We don't need a Miro replacement, but a momentary stand in would be nice.
2 more seasons as Lundkvist chips away at his TOI & takes pointers would have made that contract easy to swallow, as it falls off in time for Bichsel's first post ELC deal. 2 1st & 2 3rds should have gotten us close to 50% retention, with the Jones trade as a recent comp.
I also really wanted to see Stankoven mature into a point man on the PP over his career, c'est la vie.
Anytime a player of Rantanen's caliber is available, your core "needs" him, depending on the cost. This cost was a single roster player and draft capital.
So, absolutely he was the correct target at the price that was put on the market.
From what I recall, not a single, above average, RD was moved at the deadline.
There was no move to be made to upgrade that position. What would the cost have been for that?
It is a sign that either the team didn't know how much they relied upon Miro or that they weren't really pushing all in this year. Maybe the more generous 3rd choice is they thought he'd be ready to go mid-April. Ceci as a Nils replacement is fine, as a Miro, not a chance.
Don't usually comment. Assuming you read Thomas Drance's take on the Athletic about Dallas's defense and his nuanced view of the bigger picture. His view is that Nill played for the future with Rantanan over the present very weak right side defense without (and with) Heikanen. Seemed like a very unbiased take from someone who is knowledgable.
Drance is based. Which means he's right. I've been following Drance since before he ever made it to the big time. And that's a great point, and one I'll write about at the end of the year -- ideally in June rather than April/May. Appreciate you commenting. Please comment more! Also, you didn't come here via Dimitri's place did you?
The thing about “better now than in the playoffs” is even with these three losses, they're still massively overperforming their underlying numbers since Heiskanen went down. Even accounting for the goaltending/finishing talent on this roster, their actual goals percentage is so much higher higher than their expected goals, it's hard not to think this is just the beginning of the crash.
I'm just curious what a crash actually looks like. Is this one of those torturous series like Calgary, do they get blown out -- OR...for they look like total crap and still somehow pull it off?
Ha, I meant crash more like regression to their mean. Even if their talent means they're a true 103 PDO team, they're still 4 points over that since Heiskanen was injured.
There are multiple paths to a win over Colorado without Heiskanen, but all of them rely on great individual performances pulling the team to victory, in my opinion.
This is problem. Their hubris is misplaced based on their record. They've convinced themselves that standings matter. This is evident by them getting routinely crowned by non-playoff teams regardless of whether they actually win those games. This recent play is the exact same way they played to start the season only in the last three games they're actually getting the result they deserve. There's probably 20 wins on their record they have no business having.
Stop reversing the puck in the D-zone. Since no dman on Dallas can make a plan on what to do with the puck when they retrieve it, dumb it down. Hard clapper off the glass (they can't miss the point guy to get a clear to save their life so make it hurt) or immediate high flip. The latter being how they got out of pressure to start the season.
And, for the love of God, stop trying to dangle at the opposing blue line. Even when they're on the PP the curl or drop at the blue line is immediately locked up by 3 opposing players. Their capacity to learn lessons is lower than my pre-schooler's.
I did the same thing as you. Turned off the game after the EN and went to bed. Woke up seriously confused. Absolutely infuriating and still blows my mind Mark Stone doesn't get more hate from hockey fans in general for what he did.
Hope Miro doesn't miss round one, but all teams have a punchers chance in round one.
I've said it before, will say it again: Mark Stone is a d#*k and the fact that he didn't even get a fine or suspension tells you where the league is as far as money and Vegas and their ownership under Foley goes. I loved what Jamie Benn did to him just didn't like WHEN he did it (should have saved it for a regular season game!). Us fans aren't the only ones that think he is a twat. Hey, talking about Mark Stone takes my mind off of being at the seriously crappy game last night.
A team that wines and dines on the counter attack looses their #1 d man who cleans up the margins by locking down the defensive side of the game. They then go and add a top dollar scoring forward who is notorious for having a lack luster defensive game and is learning his 3rd system of the season.
This stretch has been rough, but not unexpected.
Hopefully getting Seguin back adds a bit more of the "boring" defensive structure that this team butters their bread with.
I was gonna say—how much of the team’s bad defense post-Heiskanen is attributable to d-men, specifically, versus forwards? I played soccer, not hockey, growing up, but I can at least distinguish that ice hockey forwards play a much larger role in overall team defense than the forwards and wingers on a soccer pitch do.
How much of a change to the Stars’ team defense would juggling the forward corps make, in theory? Is there some universe where this post-Heiskanen blue-line converts into a world-class shutdown unit if the guys in front start carrying more of their defensive weight?
I think it is more than just Seguin playing defense, but having his voice to get others to buy into it. Not saying this team needs to go full Bowness to have a chance of winning the first round, but they've got to do something. Maybe Mikko knows some dirty secrets to use against Colorado otherwise.
What a disaster that was last night but here is my opinion , agree with Davis that Miro lifts all defensive ships but real immediate issue is that Dumba is still awful and Ceci is not much better also Esa is absolutely exhausted by the work load of essentially killing 5 penalties a night and it’s making his whole game worse . Lastly how does Marchment escape censure for his nightly ridicules unneeded penalties in the offensive zone . Which fueled the initial comeback by Vancouver plus other games , his offensive output which is patchy is killed by these endless moronic penalties
The fate of that team was settled last summer when Nill signed Lyu, Dumba, Smith and Lundkvist after losing Tanev. And Nill double down in trading for Ceci.
This was poor roster management if they thought that this combination of players would replaced the genius of Tanev.
Is there anyone in this organization that knows how to build a Cup contending defense?
On top of all that, we have Bichsel stuck behind 3 LD that are going nowhere else than Dallas.
IMHO, the whole RD section needs to be restructured. I would only keep Lundkvist because he is cheap and I would use as trade bates Lyu, Bichsel, Marchment in order to bring a Nemec and another young and lower profile RD.
You can peice that group together to make a quick shift replacement of Tanev, especially with Bichsel learning to take that slot full time himself. I mean just look at early season Lyubuskin, minor usage Matt (that took way too long to figure out), & Ceci to start. The peices are their, but the main ingredient is missing.
Harley-Heiskanen
Lindell-Lundkvist
& a platoon of 5-6 guys isn't the worst set up to run in the playoffs.
Harley-?
Lindell-?
& a platoon of 5-6 guys, kinda is.
Bichsel helps bridge the gap, but he still has alot left to learn and frustration with the education process usually leads to penalties.
If ya ain't cheating ya trying, and stripe shirts know how to notice a try hard.
I am bullish on this team long term if they can fix the leadership. It is obvious now to me there is a gap in leadership now that Pavelski is out. The coach has been saying so in pressers without directly saying it. Once Nill had a chance to get Rantanen, he had to do it as the only forwards I see more valuable long term are Wyatt and maybe Roope(good contract). Maybe a good long term plan to fix the D is to flip someone like Robo in the offseason for a Tanev comparable D(this team misses Tanev a ton), then pay Harley. The bigger long term problem is who leads this team? Go Stars!!!
The big difference, Petro takes smarter approaches to the puck and leverages forecheckers better. He will also actually hit people. This last point is crucial. Teams know that all they have to do is pressure the Dallas D and they will panic and screw up. To a man. Nobody, including Bische (consistently)l, makes forecheckers pay any toll for doing it. Even the hits they do have on the Stat sheet are nothing more than me bumping into you in the check out line at the grocery store. It isn't a deterence if it doesn't hurt and hitting is supposed to hurt.
DeBoer has bred all physicality out of this team in the same way previous coaches bred all offensive talent out of their prospects in lieu of a grinders game a la Steve Ott, Todd Harvey and even Faksa. I see a whole lot of Modano flyby from this forward group and 0 Modanos.
I get the reluctance to be cautious with hitting. Miller would put himself out of position to make a big hit, Smith and Dumba do it too, though Dumba has stopped hitting altogether at this point.
lol As hilarious as that was, that Detroit game was just bad goaltending. This -- and I hesitate to use such a grim reminder -- had the vibes of Dallas' late-season loss to Boston during Hitch's return that just felt like a philosophical comeuppance.
If I am whomever is making the roster decisions if the Stars lose to the Jets then I bring up every player from Cedar Park that I can fit under the cap and give this bunch some time away from the ice. Last night was the absolute worst loss from any team and I have been watching hockey for over thirty years. I am not sure how Nil won GM of the year but he needs to give those awards back because he laid an egg with his off season signings this time.
Petro call up for the playoffs, sit Lyubushkin. Only in beer leagues do I see a player lose the puck in their own feet or toe-pick themselves out of a play as often as that dude. Miro back and replaces Ceci. Dumba is the only one of the new guys whise game has improved since being here.
Miro-Harley (or Miro-Dumba)
Lindell-Dumba (or Lindell-Petro)
Bish-Petro (or Bish-Harley, Bish can play his off side just as well)
Our backend is extremely over taxed at the moment.
Miro, Lindell, & Harley running the left side, with an interchangeable mix of Ceci, Lyubuskin, Dumba, Bichsel, & Petrovic up the right, would alleviate alot of the problems & would get rest for the group that needs it most in the playoffs. (That quartet is gonna eat alot of pucks and them bumps & bruises add up.)
Without Miro running the show, the depth on the backend has been exposed for the rotational supporting cast it is. Harley's held his own, but has looked utterly gassed in the 3rd over this little stretch.
I agree they're over-taxed. However, this is almost exclusively because they make the dumbest decisions with the puck in their own zone, or fail to execute when making a proper one, resulting in them getting stuck and thus working that much harder. That's how you get Lindell on a 3 minute shift at the end of last night's game.
They can help themselves out by clearing the puck. That, however, requires them to do something different than they've been doing and they just don't adapt pretty much at all and most definitely not within the game.
Harley is not immune to the duncicle plays either. His new found confidence often reveals itself as hubris. He believes now he can skate out of any situation. While he is a very good skater, he can't. He's also prone to try to make passes into his own slot or up the middle in general because he thinks he can thread it, but there's only two elite passers on this team and neither of them are Harley. Sometimes gives up the opportunity to clear because he wants to exit with control. I get that because that's what DeBoer said he wanted to do when he came here. It didn't take long for him to get over that when he realized they just don't have the personnel for that to be their breakout scheme.
Lyubushkin is bad but I think he's fine-ish in sheltered minutes. To me, Bush and Petro are no different - one of the reasons I didn't understand people gassing up Petrovic. He's an NHL quality player for a few shifts, but the pace catches up eventually.
Then again this is kind of the entire problem: it would be one thing if Dallas had defenders punching above their weight. It's that some of their defenders are actively bad.
Maybe not the worst game the Stars have played but certainly the worst ending. The defense is TIRED without Miro; Esa had a shift where he was on the ice for 3 minutes plus. Harley looks like he is needing some rest too. I agree, some of our D men are punching above their weight. When Stars went up 5-2 they pretty much took their foot off the gas. Plus stupid penalties again. I hope Benn and Duchene had a players meeting to sort some of the character stuff out.
Ceci was clearly not the RD to target. Maybe the Stars are better positioned in the future with Rantanen but the lack of a competent RD will haunt Nill for the rest of his career.
I agree, but by all accounts Ceci was part of a package deal for Granlund. So would you be willing to make the argument that losing Ceci would be fine if it meant losing Granlund?
You don't get a chance at a Rantanen level player often...if ever. That was the correct move. As far as acquiring a RD, show me the player you think Nill could have gotten for Stankoven and 4 picks. That level of player, especially a RD, is *never* available at the TD. Not signing Tanev for the extra two years was also the correct move.
I wish we would have used the draft capital in the Rantanen trade to get Karlsson with retention, while keeping Stankoven in house.
I think Karlsson is mostly washed, wouldn’t want the last few years on that deal… but I think I agree with the sentiment.
He's still got it between the ears and more than enough in the tank to get through a playoff run this season.
As an offensive educational tool for the defensive group, I stand by the concept of Karlsson as an add.
I think Suter's time in Dallas aided in Harley's understanding of his defensive game and is a (not the) reason we seen as much growth from him as we have. The offensive answer keys that Karlsson could have brought would have been a nice investment in Harley, Bichsel, & Miro's careers moving forward, imo.
Ugh no. Rantanen will be a solid player throughout his contract; Karlsson is already a shell of his former self.
I do think what was given up for Ceci was an overpay as he sucks.
I don't doubt that, but was our forward core really in need of a Mikko Rantanen?
We added a new foundational peice late season, a factor towards the team making early season mistakes once again.
The learning curve on getting Moose as a #1 contributer is worth the time spent in the regular season, but if things don't gel by the 1st round we're done.
I do think the addition of Karlsson would have better addressed the issue currently with the back end, as he'd atleast be able to get Harley a breath in game. We don't need a Miro replacement, but a momentary stand in would be nice.
2 more seasons as Lundkvist chips away at his TOI & takes pointers would have made that contract easy to swallow, as it falls off in time for Bichsel's first post ELC deal. 2 1st & 2 3rds should have gotten us close to 50% retention, with the Jones trade as a recent comp.
I also really wanted to see Stankoven mature into a point man on the PP over his career, c'est la vie.
Anytime a player of Rantanen's caliber is available, your core "needs" him, depending on the cost. This cost was a single roster player and draft capital.
So, absolutely he was the correct target at the price that was put on the market.
From what I recall, not a single, above average, RD was moved at the deadline.
There was no move to be made to upgrade that position. What would the cost have been for that?
It is a sign that either the team didn't know how much they relied upon Miro or that they weren't really pushing all in this year. Maybe the more generous 3rd choice is they thought he'd be ready to go mid-April. Ceci as a Nils replacement is fine, as a Miro, not a chance.
Don't usually comment. Assuming you read Thomas Drance's take on the Athletic about Dallas's defense and his nuanced view of the bigger picture. His view is that Nill played for the future with Rantanan over the present very weak right side defense without (and with) Heikanen. Seemed like a very unbiased take from someone who is knowledgable.
Drance is based. Which means he's right. I've been following Drance since before he ever made it to the big time. And that's a great point, and one I'll write about at the end of the year -- ideally in June rather than April/May. Appreciate you commenting. Please comment more! Also, you didn't come here via Dimitri's place did you?
If this was the strategy, I guess that DeBoer would be delighted to know.
Also, it would kind of ironic since, in no future universe, they will be able to bring back such a powerful Forward Corps into the playoffs.
The thing about “better now than in the playoffs” is even with these three losses, they're still massively overperforming their underlying numbers since Heiskanen went down. Even accounting for the goaltending/finishing talent on this roster, their actual goals percentage is so much higher higher than their expected goals, it's hard not to think this is just the beginning of the crash.
I'm just curious what a crash actually looks like. Is this one of those torturous series like Calgary, do they get blown out -- OR...for they look like total crap and still somehow pull it off?
Ha, I meant crash more like regression to their mean. Even if their talent means they're a true 103 PDO team, they're still 4 points over that since Heiskanen was injured.
There are multiple paths to a win over Colorado without Heiskanen, but all of them rely on great individual performances pulling the team to victory, in my opinion.
It might be worth using Rantanen's usage as a barometer for the data.
Dallas seem fine when he's another guy in the mix, but when he's leading the group in usage, things have gotten squirrelly.
This is problem. Their hubris is misplaced based on their record. They've convinced themselves that standings matter. This is evident by them getting routinely crowned by non-playoff teams regardless of whether they actually win those games. This recent play is the exact same way they played to start the season only in the last three games they're actually getting the result they deserve. There's probably 20 wins on their record they have no business having.
Stop reversing the puck in the D-zone. Since no dman on Dallas can make a plan on what to do with the puck when they retrieve it, dumb it down. Hard clapper off the glass (they can't miss the point guy to get a clear to save their life so make it hurt) or immediate high flip. The latter being how they got out of pressure to start the season.
And, for the love of God, stop trying to dangle at the opposing blue line. Even when they're on the PP the curl or drop at the blue line is immediately locked up by 3 opposing players. Their capacity to learn lessons is lower than my pre-schooler's.
I did the same thing as you. Turned off the game after the EN and went to bed. Woke up seriously confused. Absolutely infuriating and still blows my mind Mark Stone doesn't get more hate from hockey fans in general for what he did.
Hope Miro doesn't miss round one, but all teams have a punchers chance in round one.
I've said it before, will say it again: Mark Stone is a d#*k and the fact that he didn't even get a fine or suspension tells you where the league is as far as money and Vegas and their ownership under Foley goes. I loved what Jamie Benn did to him just didn't like WHEN he did it (should have saved it for a regular season game!). Us fans aren't the only ones that think he is a twat. Hey, talking about Mark Stone takes my mind off of being at the seriously crappy game last night.
A team that wines and dines on the counter attack looses their #1 d man who cleans up the margins by locking down the defensive side of the game. They then go and add a top dollar scoring forward who is notorious for having a lack luster defensive game and is learning his 3rd system of the season.
This stretch has been rough, but not unexpected.
Hopefully getting Seguin back adds a bit more of the "boring" defensive structure that this team butters their bread with.
I really think the forward lines need a shakeup. None of them are winning the possession battle. Not even close.
I was gonna say—how much of the team’s bad defense post-Heiskanen is attributable to d-men, specifically, versus forwards? I played soccer, not hockey, growing up, but I can at least distinguish that ice hockey forwards play a much larger role in overall team defense than the forwards and wingers on a soccer pitch do.
How much of a change to the Stars’ team defense would juggling the forward corps make, in theory? Is there some universe where this post-Heiskanen blue-line converts into a world-class shutdown unit if the guys in front start carrying more of their defensive weight?
I think it is more than just Seguin playing defense, but having his voice to get others to buy into it. Not saying this team needs to go full Bowness to have a chance of winning the first round, but they've got to do something. Maybe Mikko knows some dirty secrets to use against Colorado otherwise.
Moose has only ever been hit by the Bowness stick.
Might be worth back tracking a bit as a team to teach him how to use it.
What a disaster that was last night but here is my opinion , agree with Davis that Miro lifts all defensive ships but real immediate issue is that Dumba is still awful and Ceci is not much better also Esa is absolutely exhausted by the work load of essentially killing 5 penalties a night and it’s making his whole game worse . Lastly how does Marchment escape censure for his nightly ridicules unneeded penalties in the offensive zone . Which fueled the initial comeback by Vancouver plus other games , his offensive output which is patchy is killed by these endless moronic penalties
I was at the 2014 Game 6 loss to Anaheim where Dallas gave up 2 in the final 2+ minutes and the OT series clincher less than 2 minutes into OT...
Last night was worse, somehow...
Forgot about that 2014 playoff goat rodeo!
To be fair, Dallas wasn’t favored, but win game 6 and take your chances in a game 7 would have been fun.
The fate of that team was settled last summer when Nill signed Lyu, Dumba, Smith and Lundkvist after losing Tanev. And Nill double down in trading for Ceci.
This was poor roster management if they thought that this combination of players would replaced the genius of Tanev.
Is there anyone in this organization that knows how to build a Cup contending defense?
On top of all that, we have Bichsel stuck behind 3 LD that are going nowhere else than Dallas.
IMHO, the whole RD section needs to be restructured. I would only keep Lundkvist because he is cheap and I would use as trade bates Lyu, Bichsel, Marchment in order to bring a Nemec and another young and lower profile RD.
And of course, please get rid of Dumba ASAP.
You can peice that group together to make a quick shift replacement of Tanev, especially with Bichsel learning to take that slot full time himself. I mean just look at early season Lyubuskin, minor usage Matt (that took way too long to figure out), & Ceci to start. The peices are their, but the main ingredient is missing.
Harley-Heiskanen
Lindell-Lundkvist
& a platoon of 5-6 guys isn't the worst set up to run in the playoffs.
Harley-?
Lindell-?
& a platoon of 5-6 guys, kinda is.
Bichsel helps bridge the gap, but he still has alot left to learn and frustration with the education process usually leads to penalties.
If ya ain't cheating ya trying, and stripe shirts know how to notice a try hard.
Just ask Marchment.
There is no replacement of Tanev in any combinations of Ceci-Dumba-Lyu-Lundkvist.
Tanev is an ELITE defensive D. You cannot have ELITE by the addition of 3 to 4 below average D. These maths does not work.
And Bichsel is not there yet. as talented that he is.
And for the record, the D issues were there even before the injury to Miro. That`s why he was already overworked before getting injured.
I am bullish on this team long term if they can fix the leadership. It is obvious now to me there is a gap in leadership now that Pavelski is out. The coach has been saying so in pressers without directly saying it. Once Nill had a chance to get Rantanen, he had to do it as the only forwards I see more valuable long term are Wyatt and maybe Roope(good contract). Maybe a good long term plan to fix the D is to flip someone like Robo in the offseason for a Tanev comparable D(this team misses Tanev a ton), then pay Harley. The bigger long term problem is who leads this team? Go Stars!!!
The big difference, Petro takes smarter approaches to the puck and leverages forecheckers better. He will also actually hit people. This last point is crucial. Teams know that all they have to do is pressure the Dallas D and they will panic and screw up. To a man. Nobody, including Bische (consistently)l, makes forecheckers pay any toll for doing it. Even the hits they do have on the Stat sheet are nothing more than me bumping into you in the check out line at the grocery store. It isn't a deterence if it doesn't hurt and hitting is supposed to hurt.
DeBoer has bred all physicality out of this team in the same way previous coaches bred all offensive talent out of their prospects in lieu of a grinders game a la Steve Ott, Todd Harvey and even Faksa. I see a whole lot of Modano flyby from this forward group and 0 Modanos.
I get the reluctance to be cautious with hitting. Miller would put himself out of position to make a big hit, Smith and Dumba do it too, though Dumba has stopped hitting altogether at this point.
The big question: is last night's 3rd period follies more or less worse than the 2/21/15 3rd period fiasco vs Detroit?
lol As hilarious as that was, that Detroit game was just bad goaltending. This -- and I hesitate to use such a grim reminder -- had the vibes of Dallas' late-season loss to Boston during Hitch's return that just felt like a philosophical comeuppance.
If I am whomever is making the roster decisions if the Stars lose to the Jets then I bring up every player from Cedar Park that I can fit under the cap and give this bunch some time away from the ice. Last night was the absolute worst loss from any team and I have been watching hockey for over thirty years. I am not sure how Nil won GM of the year but he needs to give those awards back because he laid an egg with his off season signings this time.
Petro call up for the playoffs, sit Lyubushkin. Only in beer leagues do I see a player lose the puck in their own feet or toe-pick themselves out of a play as often as that dude. Miro back and replaces Ceci. Dumba is the only one of the new guys whise game has improved since being here.
Miro-Harley (or Miro-Dumba)
Lindell-Dumba (or Lindell-Petro)
Bish-Petro (or Bish-Harley, Bish can play his off side just as well)
Our backend is extremely over taxed at the moment.
Miro, Lindell, & Harley running the left side, with an interchangeable mix of Ceci, Lyubuskin, Dumba, Bichsel, & Petrovic up the right, would alleviate alot of the problems & would get rest for the group that needs it most in the playoffs. (That quartet is gonna eat alot of pucks and them bumps & bruises add up.)
Without Miro running the show, the depth on the backend has been exposed for the rotational supporting cast it is. Harley's held his own, but has looked utterly gassed in the 3rd over this little stretch.
I agree they're over-taxed. However, this is almost exclusively because they make the dumbest decisions with the puck in their own zone, or fail to execute when making a proper one, resulting in them getting stuck and thus working that much harder. That's how you get Lindell on a 3 minute shift at the end of last night's game.
They can help themselves out by clearing the puck. That, however, requires them to do something different than they've been doing and they just don't adapt pretty much at all and most definitely not within the game.
Harley is not immune to the duncicle plays either. His new found confidence often reveals itself as hubris. He believes now he can skate out of any situation. While he is a very good skater, he can't. He's also prone to try to make passes into his own slot or up the middle in general because he thinks he can thread it, but there's only two elite passers on this team and neither of them are Harley. Sometimes gives up the opportunity to clear because he wants to exit with control. I get that because that's what DeBoer said he wanted to do when he came here. It didn't take long for him to get over that when he realized they just don't have the personnel for that to be their breakout scheme.
Lyubushkin is bad but I think he's fine-ish in sheltered minutes. To me, Bush and Petro are no different - one of the reasons I didn't understand people gassing up Petrovic. He's an NHL quality player for a few shifts, but the pace catches up eventually.
Then again this is kind of the entire problem: it would be one thing if Dallas had defenders punching above their weight. It's that some of their defenders are actively bad.
Preseason roster designs, I'm here for it. Unless they beat PEG in regulation, that race is over.