Confirmed with Link: Avs sign Jack Johnson to PTO

[Foppa2118]

Every one of our defenseman that isn’t named Toews hasn’t had a night so far this season where they made some boneheaded decisions.

Toews is a really solid defenseman a lot of the time, but he actually didn't have his best January. He made quite a few bad turnovers, bad pinches, and coverage mistakes.

He rightfully gets a lot of credit for making the right decisions a lot of the time, but his actual defensive ability gets overrated IMO because people think he's a defensive stalwart. He's just really smart. But he has some physical limitations in certain situations, similar to Girard, just not as bad. If he loses body position he gets in trouble, and doesn't have the size/strength/reach to always make up for it like someone like Hedman or the true defensive stalwarts do.

He's been having more of those moments lately. He's not playing bad, just relative to how he's played before, his play has dipped a little bit. I worry a little this may become an issue in the playoffs too, especially with a consistent heavy forecheck. It was a little bit against Vegas.

 

[JoeSakic13]

Toews is a really solid defenseman a lot of the time, but he actually didn't have his best January. He made quite a few bad turnovers, bad pinches, and coverage mistakes.

He rightfully gets a lot of credit for making the right decisions a lot of the time, but his actual defensive ability gets overrated IMO because people think he's a defensive stalwart. He's just really smart. But he has some physical limitations in certain situations, similar to Girard, just not as bad. If he loses body position he gets in trouble, and doesn't have the size/strength/reach to always make up for it like someone like Hedman or the true defensive stalwarts do.

He's been having more of those moments lately. He's not playing bad, just relative to how he's played before, his play has dipped a little bit. I worry a little this may become an issue in the playoffs too, especially with a consistent heavy forecheck. It was a little bit against Vegas.

In my defense, my post was from November.

 

[Foppa2118]

In my defense, my post was from November.

Ha! My bad. Got tricked by the bump.

 

[Hennessy]

Yeah, I've had no issues with him being what he is. He's done the job he was signed to do without looking like the trainwreck he was advertised as. Sure, he might not be ideal, but what team has enough depth on D that they don't have some question marks on spots 6 & 7?
Also, just getting the Johnson & Johnson pairing after all these years was worth it on its own.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I've been down more on JMFJ lately. Earlier in the season, he was a good veteran presence, solid physical guy who has more left in the tank than I thought. But you can see he is not a smart hockey player. He is bad in front of the net, reacting to the puck instead of taking care of the man, doesn't get himself open for passes, and loses crucial board battles. Still not the worst 7th D but we need a solid bottom pairing PK specialist.

 

[Richard88]

I've been down more on JMFJ lately. Earlier in the season, he was a good veteran presence, solid physical guy who has more left in the tank than I thought. But you can see he is not a smart hockey player. He is bad in front of the net, reacting to the puck instead of taking care of the man, doesn't get himself open for passes, and loses crucial board battles. Still not the worst 7th D but we need a solid bottom pairing PK specialist.

There should be a few names available on D this year so that hopefully shouldn't be too hard to fill.

2022 UFA's
Giordano
Strålman
Ristolainen
De Haan
Murphy
Manson
Chiarot
Kulak
Braun
Lyubushkin

2023 UFA's
Gavrikov
Soucy
Zub
Mayfield
Schenn

... or roll the dice and see what Helleson can do.

 

[willy702]

He and MacD both seemed like guys you put in there every once in awhile to change things up and give them options in case of a rash of injuries. Using both almost every game surely couldn't have been the plans for them. Time for the team to remember that and use them sparingly and see what the AHL options can provide. I think a fresh JMFJ could put in a decent 15 minutes in the third pairing if he plays about 3-4 times a month.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Almost no issue playing him as a 7th dman but this guy cant be an everyday dman in your line up. Too many mistakes.

 

[ETTHAKING67]

He hasn't been good but for that price tag he's pretty much what's you hoped when you gave him a try-out.

Obviously you wish him and McD wouldn't play as much but with injuries to Toews early on and since then to Murray and Byram have put them in that situation and they have been fine.

We knew that the Avs would by trying to get one or two more D at the TDL, no matther what.