IMO, the Fronts have four capable D-Men. The 3rd pairing is the pairing that needs a little support. I’m not a fan of Uens. I think in time, Villiaris can be better but on a team that wants to push for the division, maybe he’s not an ideal top 6 guy at this point.
In a perfect World, Kingston would acquire a true #1 guy back there and that trickle down effect helps all three pairings. But, barring that, jsut adding a solid Top 4 guy allows them to push Williamson down to the 3rd pairing. I like Williamson. He’s more than adequate. I like McGown on that 2nd pairing. If Williamson is on the 3rd pairing, McGowan is on the 2nd pairing and then they have whomever they acquire plus Pie and Burns, they will be fine. I don’t think the defence is in a bad spot. They jsut need to add someone that can eat minutes on the 2nd pairing with McGowan.
Or, they could go even cheaper and get a veteran depth D-Man and put Williamson and McGowan together. That would help too. The problem is the depth of the ‘05 class isn’t all that great league wide. Maybe finding those middle roster guys will be more difficult than other years?