Matt Ross: 2016 First Round Playoffs: Game 6 Loss to NYI
- Matt Ross
"I remember Tallon saying he saw Gudbranson as captain down the line because he had those leadership qualities. Not sure what happened..."
Basically, Tom Rowe happened.
Gudbrandson and Kulikov were traded because they weren't offensively, or corsi-ly, gifted enough. The replacements were all great with the puck, except no one could/would take it away from the opponent to begin with. Gallant wasn't down with the changes, but he lost the pissing match with Rowe, and was fired. While Reilly Smith had a terrible year immediately after signing a big extension, I think there was more to Smith leaving than just salary cap reasons. Rowe (who extended Smith's deal) and him seemed to clash, with Rowe once publicly blaming Smith for a loss. I think there was more going on there than was ever reported.
Ekblad was indeed more "stay home" under Gallant. GG having Brian Campbell as his partner made it so the young Ekblad could focus more on his defense.