weird thing is, even limited minutes and sheltering, I think I choose Guenin+either over Gormley-Redmond right now.
I'm still hoping there will be some sudden improvement in both, even if just in defensive positioning though so that could change
I like the idea of Siemens and one of Gormely or Redmond over Guenin though. Call me crazy I guess...
Siemens skating would allow him to cover more ice, but hes still a stay at home defense first type. Gormely and Redmond together are just soft as butter and take too many risks. Neither of them can move anyone from the front of the net. Guenin still does not clear the crease consistently like we seen last night though.
I'd just love to see Duncan get a shot to do what Guenin does. Which is plant his ass to the side of the net and defend the ice in front of it.
It's when Guenin has to do anything else, or there is a scramble in coverage that he can't keep up mentally or physically.
Out of the 3 plugs, Gormley is the only one who I'd want to give minutes to. Problem is with the system Roy is trying to run now, you need some mobility on the right side and Redmond is really the only healthy option right now that can actually skate. Gormley isn't good on the right side, Guenin can't skate, Noreau is hurt, Clark is at best a #4 in the AHL now, etc. Zadorov is playing the right quite a bit and my theory is that they want him to get used to that side before coming back up.
That's probably the best theory as to why Zadorov is getting as much time on the right side in the AHL, as I've seen thus far. That would make a ton of sense without any other wild implications like Barrie getting traded due to potential contract issues.
Edit : Wasn't there something at one point where Roy wanted to have three main D on separate pairings, instead of a one or two top pairings? I think that came from how LA used to run their D. I remember him saying something to that effect early on.