Guest Blogger: KF_Kadri43 --- Contender or Pretender

Well Leaf Nation, what is it? Are we serious about being a contender in the NHL, not only contending for a playoff spot, I’m talking about the real deal... A Stanley Cup contender!

...Orrrrrr, are we pretending to be a contender, and tricking ourselves into believing our team is good enough to make it into the finals.

We are the youngest team in the NHL, so if we aren’t “Cup” ready, is it a bad thing? Well, Chicago did it with a young team... What’s our excuse?

I am confident with just ONE MORE TRADE, we can consider ourselves a contending hockey team. And it’s real simple to see what our problem is. We still don’t have a true #1 center. Connolly was added, but since when has he been considered an elite #1 center? Definitely an upgrade from what we had, but let’s not just settle with mediocre, because we had poor in the past.

If you look at our line-up, (by the way, I am noticing in every single blog of mine, I add in the line-up...), we are actually significantly better than what we were last season. But that’s not our goal. We don’t want to be better than ourselves; we need to be better than the other teams.

Lupul-Connolly-Kessel: Great wingers, but a 2^nd line center. Primary scoring can be ALOT better with a true #1 C.

MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin: Chemistry is there. Secondary scoring is among the best in the NHL with this line.

Kadri-Bozak-Lombardi-Armstrong: A line of 4 players. No, not actually happening, but we have potentially 4 NHL players that are all currently 3^rd line players. Health and progression is an issue.

Brown-Zigomanis/Dupuis-Orr/Rosehill: Pick and choose. Your guess is as good as mind. Our fighter will be fighting for their spot.

Here is the situation...

Phaneuf

Schenn

Aulie

Franson

Liles

Gunnarsson

Komisarek

Lashoff

8 NHL defensemen, plus a load of prospects waiting for their chance.

So if you think about it, we can afford to take assets from some areas, and use them to acquire our biggest need... A NUMBER 1 CENTER.

-We can use 1 of the 2 #2 centers we have...  

-Up to 2 defencemen...

-Prospects...

-Picks...

With all that trade bait, we are sure to acquire a #1 center which will make us a contender, and not a pretender.

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@KF_Kadri43