No more excuses, Kenneth

Voices from ghosts of GMs past echoed in my head as Kent Hughes delivered his post trade deadline presser on Friday.

"It was a seller's market" (ok so why didn't you sell, instead of pussyfooting with one foot in and another of the dance floor) "We aren't yet in a position to compete" (great motivational speech as your team battles for a playoff spot!) "We made some calls, we tried" (calling your mother count as a call? no, but seriously who did you call, Chantal Machabee? did you invite Youppi into your office for a chat or to get his opinion on Dylan Cozens? Just stop...we aren't in Grade School), "We feel that around Draft Day things will open up" (oh yes, one of my favorites from the Great Book of Excuses...the last two drafts who exactly did we trade for? Kirby Dach- who looks at best like a third line winger and at worse, made of porcelain - and Alex Newhook akay "Newsy", but who looks more like a poor man's version of Jan Bullis than Newsy Lalonde...so we'll hold our breathe heading into the draft...thanks Kent).

Now look. It's not all dire straits (albeit we sure seem to be spending our Money for Nothing- sorry couldn't help myself).

We do have a solid tandem in nets with Sam "No No No No No" Mont-am-bo and Jakub (You're Simply) Dobes (queue in Tina Turner), as well as a tantalizingly promising prospect in Jacob Fowler.

Our D core is anchored by the ultra-skilled Lane Hutson, the type of QB every team needs in today's modern hockey. Guehle- if he can ever stay in the lineup is a solid, reliable shutdown D. Reinbacher has been touted as a similar type, a top 2 pairing, puck moving, reliable defender, and we also have the Sheriff, veterans Mike Matheson and Alex Carrier . Logan Mailloux is also on the way (I have my doubts).

Still, this D needs another high end D-man, not the type of player you just find lying around on the shelves of your local grocery store. This type of elite minute-munching D will require significant assets in order to acquire.

But here's where it gets ugly. Reaaaal ugly.

Up front.

Outside of the first line (and Slafkovsky, despite being better of late, does not appear to be your typical first overall generational talent- more likely a solid 2nd line power forward who may top out at 65-70 points), there isn't much there. We have no depth at C, and again, those types of players are not easy to acquire, but critically important (see past few winners of the Stanley Cup and look at their Center line).

Michael Hage looks promising, but many feel he is not only 2-3 years away but also potentially better suited as a winger (of which we have plenty). Owen Beck, Heinemann, Evans, etc all nice to have on a fourth line, but no more than that.

Now sure, the (next next....next) great one, Ivan Demidov, is on his way, but again, who would complete that second line, who would center it? Laine came as advertised, a pure sniper on the powerplay, but at 5 on 5, unfortunately, short of a wheelbarrow lugging him around the ice, he ain't going nowhere.

As mentioned in my previous blog, it's time to go BIG or go home (no really Kent, you've had your grace period, now you're - slightly- starting to get on my nerves). No more "science projects", no more tossing darts blindly at a board hoping it lands, heck no more rolling the dice at the casino and hoping for 7's. Un peu de serieux, SVP.

You're going to need to sacrifice something in order to get a legitimate top 2 C (look at the Jack Eichel trade for some inspiration). Thanos sacrificed his daughter Gamora in order to get what he wanted. In life, you have to give in order to receive (unless of course you happen to be a Japanese Geisha).

Jordan Kyrou, Mason McTavish, even Pavel Zacha would be nice fits behind Suzy.

Make it happen, it's why we pay you millions. Because I can tell you this truthfully, Kenneth, mano a mano, fans are going to start losing their shhh... patience. No more 5-year plans, no more excuses, no more I tried.

In the words of perhaps the wisest of them all, Master Yoda, "You Do or You Don't. There is No Try".