It takes a D about 4 years of pro hockey to develop his game. Generally speaking.
Guhle has been playing over 20 minutes a game from the beginning and he is paired with a guy who I wouldn't call a defensive stalwart in Matheson. Guhle has looked pretty good and this is only his 2nd year. Ideally we would have a PK , Markov kind of pairing but that's not in the cards, so it will be more about 2 guys complimenting each other. Guhle being on the defensive side.
As to Xheraj , I said possibly a 4 ( with upside ) and I don't see that as being fantasy. Again, onlyv2nd year for him.
As for Hutson , Mailloux and Reinbacher I said we will see. Can Hutson be a Ribiero on D ? A smallish guy who has slow straight away speed but is able to carve around guys and still produce? Can Mailloux bring more than a shot offensively ? Don't know. Is Reinbacher an all around Desjardins kind of guy ? Don't know, hope so because he was 5OA.
So big questions for sure. If nobody can fill spots 1 and/or 3 from our pool over the next few years then that's a significant problem and will stall our rebuild unless we can pull off a pretty significant trade without gutting us at our top 6C.