deadhead
Registered User
- Feb 26, 2014
- 49,215
- 21,617
The reality is we have a 20 yr old dmen that's going to be asked to play 22+ minutes. We have Macdonald that is horrible defensively.... We have Gudas who is decent defensively but error prone and Ghost who was a disaster defensively but has been improving + 2 rookies who are likely to make a ton of mistakes + 2 inconsistent goalies. How this team plays defensively will tell the tale. It could be a disaster and we could easily finish bottom 5 in the league or we can somehow surprise and we could have a huge turn around season. Its going to be interesting and will really show how Hexy and Hakstol have been progressing
You mean the 19 year old defenseman who was our minutes leader LAST season?
Gudas is "decent" defensively? By what standard? I mean 23 ES points, 280 hits, only 40 turnovers, CorsiRel of 2.1, E +/1 5.1, our most reliable D-man on the PK. What exactly is "good?"
Ghost was hobbled by injuries but is one of the best offensive defensemen in the game. He needs to work on his defense, but he's not horrible, just inconsistent and limited physically.
Morin, Hagg and Sanheim aren't raw rookies coming out of juniors with no pro experience. They're big and can skate. They'll make mistakes, but it's not like throwing some limited kid out there for 18 minutes a night.
I think you're being incredibly pessimistic.