I personally don't think fox was as good this year as in past years and the pair as a whole wasn't as good as normal. I think part of that is the system change and deployment by the new coaching staff. I think one fundamental thing that I believe different than most here is that fox is an elite player against certain teams or within certain types of games, but he doesn't have the individual elite SKILL to stand out as much in tight games. He does have the smarts, but he doesn't have that skating or shot that just makes him a step above.
I said a couple years ago that fox will be like the defensive version of taveras in that they are both high effort skaters, nothing is fluid for either. It takes them both more energy to do what other more fluid skaters can do. I fear a similar dip as age will start to highlight the lack of skating skills.
Regarding Lindgren, I think you take my comments as if I am a Lindgren apologist, I'm not. I think he's a 2nd or 3rd pair d man that happens to have a unique relationship with our #1 d man who has absolute confidence and comfort with him. That is why I referenced methot, beukeboom, and the like. Players that just made the elite players more comfortable even if the player in question isn't an elite player.
I 100% acknowledge that Lindgren is not a great puck player, he is an oven mitt guy. My point was just that Lindgren has proven in multiple NHL seasons that he can play 20 mins a game. Not everyone can do that. So many people are just dismissing that though. Can Lindgren play his 20 mins in a different way that doesn't involve 1st pair rotation, sure! Lindgren could eat time on a 3rd pair and pk. People are acting like he isn't an NHL defenseman, and asserting that he's worth 2m a year. It's ridiculous. There is a space between that hyperbole and recent usage that Lindgren can slot into BUT the issue to me remains who takes that role with fox? It's easy to say get rid of player x, but in a 32 team league it isn't always easy to find an actual upgrade to player x or we convince ourselves that there is a better option. I just don't see that option. If it's presents itself I'm completely open to it.
At the end of the day I'm just not sure that Lindgren "dragged fox down." I'm not sure that fox himself was as good as he has been recently and this goes to my earlier comment about taveras and the skating. He's 26 now which isn't old by any stretch, but it is a point that the heavy legs can start to affect players that are not fleet a foot of they do not commit to excessive training (taveras did and it's why he stayed elite as long as he did). Fox has never been a top defensive player and this year more than ever I saw horrific reads and guess plays by Fox on the rush that led to goals against, guessing on plays is another aspect of the skating issue. It may sound ridiculous to some to criticize a player that just put up 73 pts in 72 games, but there is a little bit of the panarin ish torching of bad teams in fox's game, along with some of the struggle in tight games thing since he doesn't have the physical separation tools that others have. He is still obviously an elite player offensively but I really believe people overlook fox's misgivings defensively, that's why I think the partner for fox is so important and you can't just toss the wrong player there and assume it will be an improvement simply because they aren't Lindgren.
