It's really not. He's a stick waver, and 90's style defenseman. He stands in front of the net and waves his stick around. He's physical, hits, fights, etc. But his transition isn't anything to write home about.
I would sign him, but he's not the style of defenseman I'd give up really good assets that can expedite our rebuild to get. He's a blast from the past, and the league is moving past him.
We're seeing it start in juniors, where before kids with really great skating, stickhandling, etc all played forward. That is changing. Coaches are putting these kids at the back end now because of how that style of defenseman can impact a game. We're in the early phases of the transition, but it's happening. It will take a while for all these kids to grow up and reach the draft, but the shift has already started.
There is a reason Gillis went after Ballard. Why Benning wanted Bartkowski. Because that style of defenseman is essential according to all the fancy stat guys they employ. And teams just don't trade the good ones, so we either have to draft one or pick up the scraps.
I would rather go after a guy like Krug than a guy like Hamonic. The league is changing, please please please please let's not give up assets to go in the other direction.