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Originally Posted by SOLR
To me this sounds a lot like the good old debates about Shane Corson. Can we agree on the fact that Ryder is not the "clear" winner Higgins is and will never have a shot at it? Sure he can score 30 goals for a couple of seasons, is he a Gartner?
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? Not sure what this all means. I don't think there's any element of Higgins vs. Ryder anywhere. Why can't we have both? And why should everybody on the team live up to the "winner" status of Higgins? Would Kost/Perez/Lats live up to it any better than Ryder?
Nor does he have to be a Hall-of-Fame metronomic scorer like Mike Gartner. What standard is that to apply to anybody? (Although Ryder has in fact given no indication whatsoever that he can't consistently chip in 25-30 goals, and 55-63 points, given that he's only 2 years into his career).
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I dont disagree Ryder is a much improved player this year. For me, what we need, is 30 goals from a center.
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What about Higgins and Kovalev?
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We have plenty of wingers with 30 goals potential on team and in the minors,
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"potential"... I doubt Gainey is as willing to rely on "potential" as you are... this year means something too, and Ryder figures as much into this year as into the potential future, which is a much riskier proposition for all of these other wingers...
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We cannot win championships with a 2nd line that produce so little,
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... yet we seem to be chugging along at a 100+ point pace, despite a quarter-season quasi-slump from our second line... I don't think it's fait accompli that such a team couldn't win a championship, nor that the remaining 3/4 of the season will necessarily see Kovalev and Samsonov's slumps continue...
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the solution for that is obvious, replace Saku on the first line by a better player.(Everybody is thinking of Lecavalier and I think vinny should have been acquired a decade ago.)
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And as icing on the cake, I cannot remotely see how we're going to get a first line center better than Koivu. At least, not without absolutely gutting our team and rebuilding. Seems awfully pointless to me...
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In today's NHL you cannot win cups without making bold moves,
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There's "bold" and then there's "reckless"...