Rejoint: août 2020
Messages: 9,527
Mentions "j'aime": 8,968
I think that's probably too much for Carlo tbh. When we aren't guaranteed solid defense or even mediocre goaltending, trading a 1st a year out in a strong draft seems like a bad idea, unless the protection is if we make the playoffs. Like if it's a conditional pick, 2nd if we miss, 1st if we make it, then sure, but two good prospects on top of that for a 2nd pair guy seems like too much.
Also in general, I think I'm fine with Zub being our only pure shutdown guy in the top 4. I think Sanderson will develop into an all-situations 2-way guy, and I'd like another guy like that to fill out the top 4 (able to play the PK, but also a decent puck-mover). Like that's why I'm so big on Thomson and really hope he can step up into that role. Obviously this guy will be at the same level as Sanderson will hopefully reach (they're the #4 after all), but having 2 guys that are only gonna be good in their own zone in our top 4 just makes us less dynamic in transition, and I think that's been shown to be critical in these playoffs. Like look at Colorado, they're full of guys like Girard, Byram, Makar, Toews that are excellent at moving the puck, the only shutdown guy in their top 4 is Manson, their other shutdown guys are 3rd pair guys, which we can have in the form of Kleven, JBD, random UFA veterans, etc. for filling out our PK. Like look at Calgary's defense:
2-way / 2-way
2-way (more offensive + rush defense rather than in-zone) / shutdown
shutdown / shutdown
We can build something like that. I think Chabot is the more offensive/rush defense guy (depends on how much his in-zone defense can improve when he doesn't have to play a million even strength minutes per night, but his hallmark will always be his ELITE transition play, and I think his skating/positioning can make him an above average rush defender if he isn't already, not sure where to actually view that kinda stuff for free and I don't think jfresh has posted an XL player card for him lol), Zub is the shutdown top 4 guy, Sanderson's a 2-way guy, so we could use another 2-way guy imo. Carlo certainly wouldn't hurt, but then we're super reliant on Chabot and Sanderson to be the only guys ever moving the puck, which I think will be very predictable, and easier to counter than multiple good puck-movers. Especially because I also think Brannstrom doesn't seem like a long-term fixture for us unfortunately, certainly not in the top 4. Like in this scenario you're already relying on either Sanderson as a rookie or Brannstrom at 5'10" to be one of our main PKers next year (or increasing Chabot's ice time to legitimately 30 minutes per night lol).