Whaddya think folks? I think it’s fair enough. We’re moving up, have a ways to go, and still have Chiarot.
Here’s the full Detroit write-up. It’s technically “3 paragraphs” but I’m pasting it all since it’s only 4 actual sentences…
>Seider was underwhelming in the first half of the season but he started playing like a bona fide No. 1 again once he was paired with Walman, who’s been a revelation for the Red Wings.
>Detroit’s second pair could be a little dicey. Petry is well-equipped for that role but Chiarot hurt any top-four pair he was on last year. Chiarot was a huge drag on Seider and had a similarly harsh impact on Filip Hronek prior to the latter getting traded.
>The Red Wings’ third pair should be above average as they’re loaded with quality options like Gostisbehere, Holl and Määttä.
FWIW, they have us with:
* Seider-Walman
* Chiarot-Petry
* Ghost-Holl
* *Maatta/Edvinsson*
by bandofgypsies
9 Comments
I think that means we’ve moved up.
I think us being placed in the “question marks” category is fair. Outside of our top line, nobody *really* knows how everyone is going to gel.
I think putting us in question marks is dumb. We have zero question marks. Our top 7 dmen are all established players that everyone knows about. Mo and Walman were a top 5 defensive d-pairing last season and we added 3 guys that are all pretty darn good in their own right. I think our defense is going to shock some people, but defense and goaltending are directly correlated so unless that gets better people will continue to harshly judge this d-corp.
We have an elite first pairing, then 5 established NHL defencemen plus at least 1 prospect trying to knock down the door to get in. The only question marks are who will have chemistry and how well that can be deployed. We aren’t going to top the defence charts but we should be able to sit around league average and be a significant step better than last season.
I still can’t believe they’d rather play Chairot or Holl and not give those minutes to Edvinsson.
Seems pretty accurate to me, we have our top pair that will hopefully be pretty good, then whatever combination the coach wants to use on the bottom 2 pairs is going to have some serious question marks for sure. Do I love it? Hell no. Is it better than a lot of the dumpster fire defensive groups we’ve watched over the past handful of years? Yes, it is. I do wish there was one less LHD under contract to give Edvinsson a better chance of getting to play, but otherwise I can live with it even if it doesn’t get me real excited. Guys like Gostisbehere will be a big improvement on the powerplay for sure, he just needs to be sheltered a bit defensively.
Edvinson to GR barring injury, Holl and Chariot fight for 6 and 7 spot.
Matta is a very under rated defensive Dman
Question marks makes sense. But I think we’re a clear upgrade on defense from last year.
Our offense is also a clear upgrade from last year, so it’s silly to me when I see people projecting us to finish 7th or 8th in the division.
I will say though,
>Detroit’s second pair could be a little dicey. Petry is well-equipped for that role but Chiarot hurt any top-four pair he was on last year. Chiarot was a huge drag on Seider and had a similarly harsh impact on Filip Hronek prior to the latter getting traded.
Their reasoning is a bit dumb. “Top pair is great, third pair is above average. Middle pairing we made up that probably won’t even be the middle pairing has a bad player.”
I’m cautiously optimistic about Holl and Chairot this year. Keeping their contracts out of the conversation, I think they can both be solid contributors playing further down in the D lineup. If Petry can play like he did in Pittsburgh last year and Ghost helps the PP while not being a total liability, I think we could be in that “good” category. If Edvinsson earns a spot, even better.