I suspect our biggest issue is an analytics error toward undervaluing chaos and braun, durability, sustainability.
I consider us a new age team...and like beyond the transition say of the Rangers, who are in an existential crisis realizing they are an old school team.
The thing is though that the NHL officiates playoffs differently, and I'm not sure you shouldn't be an old school team that limps into the playoffs. Throw the seed out in hockey. It happens every year.
Fight the attrition battle, be healthy, save some tricks in the bag, etc. This format does take a lot out of you grinding all season to qualify for playoffs though.
Blue Jackets, Flyers, Blackhawks, Kraken, Sharks types are these Charmin soft teams that fly around and buzz the tower screaming Ice Man and Maverick and want to do that for three periods 60 games.
I think this style and the AI in the puck tracking movement is saying across other sports as well that the young kids are consistent, where they are told to be, repeating good habit things and able to repeat in 2 or 3 days time.
But that equation flips in the playoffs or big games and skill, experience, durability become more valuable.
To be able to switch styles as suits the needs of the team throughout a season I think you should focus on being a complete team and helping those parts of your team around the areas they aren't as great at.
You can't expect to be the same every night and get the same results. This is what we are striving for but it's not sports reality, it's a data lie.
This is greatly effecting a hockey and soccer youth movement, in two sports where they play way too many gruelling games.
We probably should have a 25 deep pipe to Rockford full of Kurashev robots that fly around, but that isn't going to bring the silver back in the end.
It's simply necessary to run the gauntlet of a league skating far and fast unchecked.
Come April it will be the Panthers again, dominating the jet skis with power, skill, and experience managing pace in a playoff game, picking spots to push in unison.
