I think team effect (the offensive or defensive skew that comes from playing a certain style as a team) is getting underplayed here, and we're putting it all on individuals.
The Jackets are one goal away from the league lead in 5v5 goals for. Is this because we have one of the best forward groups in the league? No, we have some good forwards and some very good offensive D, but mostly it's because we trade chances. And likewise with goals against and our defense, our D-men aren't that bad at defending, we are an aggressive team that trades chances.
When the system changes it can have an interesting effect on our perceptions of a player. When we shifted from Torts to Lars, many people here started to question whether Gavrikov was actually good at defending. Now the perception is that he's one of the best defensive D in the league (I think rightly). When Weegar was traded away from Florida, the perception was that they had gotten rid of a mistake prone player who was emblematic of the free wheeling carefree hockey that they had playing for years. Now he's supposed to be a great defensive player. Adam Pelech's defensive rep has taken a big hit now that the Islanders system has degenerated. Dobson, I don't know what to think, there are many saying he's actually awful at defense.
You have to give to get and Dobson would be our 2nd best defender by a long shot. Another #1 defenseman who can play a more defensive role than Z. I'd easily trade Chinkahov + for that, we're probably going to have to trade one of then eventually anyways, might as well be for a player who fills a need big time.
Im not as high on Gudbranson as others but stepping in today he'd be one of our best defensive dmen on the team. Miles better than Harris and Christiansen. He also would take some of the protective duties away from Olivier.
Gudbranson in our system might not be able to keep up. It's a lot of movement away from the comfortable box on the ice that he policed under Vincent. The decision making burden is much higher now.
There are roles/better fits in the NHL for both Provorov and Severson. This team's biggest weakness is keeping the puck out of the net. Perhaps they go to a team that needs more offense from the dmen, both of them would be perfect. That said, Id much prefer better defensive dmen over them/to go along side them. Provorov is not going to take a discount to stay here, the money being asked wont be worth it for this franchise as they really need much better defensive dmen.
Looking at who could be had who are good defensive dmen, Pelech, Pulock, Lauzon are all probably acquirable for reasonable prices imo.
The next tier up would be someone like Weegar, Andersson, or Dobson. Top dmen who's price tag would be quite a bit more. I'd certainly kick the tires on all of them, we need good defensively sound dmen who can help Z carry the load every night.
I just covered what I think about the reputations of some of these D - some of them would look quite different in our system. I also think that the idea that Provorov is above average offensively (or below average defensively) would quickly disappear on a lot of teams. He's much closer to being average at both ends.
Severson is more baked in as an aggressive player who makes mistakes, I don't see that changing for him. But rather than that being evidence of him being the kind of player we have less use for, I see our current system as the exact situation in which he would contribute the most. And a good chunk of our offense does flow from him, so I'm not sure I like this anti-Severson jeremiad.