Joined: May 2016
Posts: 8,205
Likes: 3,641
Lack of overall scoring from the FWD's, combined the 2nd worst PP (32 total PPG) in the league makes it hard for d-men to pick up assists. Van only had 5 players that played over 72 games, so there isn't a lot of consistency in the lineups. The lack of depth hurts a lot too. There isn't the 3rd/4th liners putting up goals in the teens to help even out the lines. So teams can just focus on shutting down 1 line most nights.
Good puck moving d-men would help some of the scoring woes, but most of the goals come from the FWDs putting the puck in the net. Having Burns or EK on defense wouldn't have gotten the team into the Playoffs.