EHM The Blue Line

The most important pieces on a nhl team are goalie defense and center. Goalie play the entire game so one mistake by the goalie can cost you the game. However drafting and developing a star goalie is not easy. Defense play more minutes than forwards and there are only 3 lines of defense vs 4 lines of forwards so having good defensive pairings are very important. Offensive skating defense can keep the puck in the opponent's end by passing and skating. Defensive defensemen can negate opponent's net front presence. Center is the quarterback of the forwards. They set up the forwards on offense. Also they are important defensively because they take faceoffs which is important. Wings are most important scoring goals. So wings are where you want to cut expenses on if you have salary issues. However that doesn't mean it's always a case a stud like ovechkin can win you games. Also if you are outshot 2 to 1 chances are you are not going to win many games. But it does happen in real life once in a while. Consistently out shot means you are not possessing the puck offensively. In opponent's end you will be shooting. Being out shot 15% may be okay but out shot 50% every game is a big problem because you are outplayed. My 2 cents.

Look at kassian injury. With this kind of ice the bigger they are the harder they fall. Big dudes who can't skate is injury prone.