[jstubbs]

Defense badly needs Sekera back. Lines of Klef/Larsson, Sekera/Russell, Nurse/Benning are a much better fit than they are now. Benning is drowning on the second pairing and Russell isn't doing a whole lot better without having a solid workhorse like Sekera being the other half.

Forwards I'm not overly worried about yet. Not here to make excuses on their behalf, but there's been a lot of line shuffling and everyone needs a bit of time to gel and figure out who works best with who.

PP first line is identical to last year (which was pretty lethal), but has been abysmal so far. Multiple chances and still yet to convert one. Guys aren't moving and reacting nearly fast enough, and can't make any good cross ice passes. Too much floating the puck around the perimeter and throwing the puck into clogged up shooting lanes.

Goaltending is more voodoo than anything else. Talbot played great in the first game, horrible in the second, and only marginally better (but still sub-par) in the game last night. That said, Oilers sure hung him out to dry a few times last night as well. Brutal. Brossoit certainly looked good in his relief of Talbot on Saturday, however. I'd give him the next start.

I wonder what Chiarelli is going to do about the defense situation. It was a bold gamble to wait till the regular season began to see what the dcorp was made of instead of trading during the off season, and it's a gamble that hasn't really paid off at all. Now all 30 other teams see that we desperately need a top 4 dman, ideally RHD, and just like that we're trading from a position of pure weakness. Had he traded in the off season before our dcorp struggles become illuminated, may have been able to pick a guy up for cheap. Still wish it could have been something like Eberle + (maybe Bear and a pick?) for Strome and Hamonic.

Vegas has a plethora of defense. I'd guess that if Chiarelli makes a move on a dman, it'll be from them. Speaking of which, I personally think Shea Theodore is going to be a stud in a few years. Might be worth a shot to take a look at him.