It's been that way his entire career, Sens nation comes after me with pitch forks every time I mentioned it. Guy is straight up horrendous defensively, no defensive IQ, can't check with his stick or body, almost always out of position.
That’s because it’s false.
He wasn’t always horrendous defensively.
In a lot of areas he was elite defensively.
Pass completion, zone exits, takeaways, even shot blocks.
He just needed a crease clearing partner like a lot of finesse defencemen excelled with. Methot was a great complement to his skill set.
He’s a shell of his former self but people saying he was always this way didn’t see him in his prime.
Anyway, you have made your mind up about this long ago so I don’t know why I’m bothering.