For the past few seasons, it’s been transparently clear that Ottawa’s Achilles heel (apologies to Erik Karlsson) has been the team’s blue line.
Over the past few years, the organization has glossed over the collective ineptness of the blue line for two reasons: 1) Erik Karlsson has developed into one of the most dynamic players in the league; and 2) management has misplaced trust in the group’s development exclusively on the basis that the age of its players.
When a top-heavy first pairing of Marc Methot and Erik Karlsson can dominate territorially and generate a ton of even-strength points playing 25 to 30 minutes a night, it can help mask a lot of the group’s deficiencies because of how dominant that partnership can be.