Quoting: RWellington
Agree with most points regarding your take on the forward combos, however I wouldn't blame the forward core on the play-in mishap. Edmonton scored 15 goals yet gave up 16, to me that suggests defence and goaltending was the issue. IF EDM had been outscored 16-8 across the series I would agree that breaking up the Dynamite line was a mistake (Disaster seems dramatic).
Hutton at $1M, regardless of Russells $4M, is a absolute steal. He will impress you in his defensive ability and could play beyond his 3rd pair label. IF the logic to not sign a player is because the coaching staff would need to coach them then there are bigger issues at hand. As for the question " how much of an upgrade is Hutton than Russell" and cutting out the noise: Hutton will result in less time spent in EDMs zone because he can defend and transition the puck at a much higher rate than Russell, which likely means less goals against and better win probabilities.
My Question to you would be: IF Edmonton has the cap space to spend on a depth Dman, such as Hutton or Greene who likely slot as the 5-7th, why NOT provide themselves with a veteran assurance.
A lot of fair points to be sure.
I'd circle back to Kahun having a try here and there on Drai's left, but when crap hits the fan and we need to win games and score goals, we need do defer to the Dynamite line without much second thought. The difference is that the trio is pretty much buzzing in the offensive zone almost the entire time, the chemistry between them clear and undeniable and they had great results to show for even just half a season together.
No, the Dynamite line being dismantled was't the Oilers undoing in the play-ins, but that definitely contributed to their downfall. When you need a big goal, when you need to hem the opponent in their own zone, when you need to build momentum, you can't rely on the breakaway as a counterattack or simply wait for the other team to make a mistake. You need controlled play 5v5 and to apply constant pressure as those 3 clearly do.
To me, if you're not pressuring the other team, you're giving them a chance to bounce back and capitalize on OUR mistakes, which the bottom 2 forward lines hand out like candy in addition to what the the top 2 "balanced" lines coughed up as well.
So instead of having one good McDavid line and one dominating Drai line, we had two good "balanced" lines that didnt exert as much pressure on Chicago.
Onto Hutton, there are still too many question marks before I'd even consider veteran insurance with a 6th or 7th dman.
1. Who plays 1st LW without breaking up 93-29-56
2. Which d-pairs are locked in?
3. How much money is left after Bear and possibly another fwd like Kahun?
4. Is there a taker for Russel to free up some cap and bring in another guy like Hutton?
There's room for one of them on this team, and while Russel is an Oiler, it's not wise to add in a part-time position when weve got holes someplace else that need solutions first.