Quoting: Svechy37
The thing about trading them is that in an ideal situation you would trade the LD (so Skjei) because of Orlov being a LD, but our biggest problem is goal scoring like you said. Well Skjei just put up 18 goals and yeah he probably doesn't repeat but I'd rather just keep the D core stacked. We have a goal scorer in Svech, Jarvis (if he bounces back), and Tuevo if he bounces back. We'll see by the time the season starts back up though.
I’d love to see what this stacked defense could do. I’d reunite DeAngelo with Slavin 5 on 5 and play Orlov with Burns, and I’d balance the ice time between the three pairs more than you would when there’s a clear 1st, 2nd and 3rd pair. I’d also try going with two defensemen on the power play instead of four forwards, giving all four of DeAngelo, Burns, Orlov and Skjei some power play time, because those guys can generate scoring chances better than a lot of their forwards. Pesce and Slavin would be the main penalty killers again.
However, I still think they’d be better off trading Pesce or Skjei for a goal-scoring forward. It doesn’t necessarily have to be Skjei, because Pesce and Chatfield both play the right side, but it would depend on what the other team needs. As long as it upgrades their forwards more than playing Chatfield or Jones would downgrade their defense (Chatfield was fine on the third pair last season), it’s worth doing. I agree that their forward lines don’t look too bad now if everybody’s healthy, but I feel a little nervous counting on Brendan Lemieux or one of their prospects, none of whom have been tearing up the AHL, as the next man up.
Another option could be trading Chatfield for a reliable depth forward, but there are probably a few unrestricted free agents still around they could sign for that role instead of trading for one.