[robaur]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Completely agree.

He has everything you think you'd want in a defensemen. 6'5'', long reach, hard shot, skates well. But, the problem is, he's brutal defensively, takes a lot of bad penalties and has a hard time getting the puck out of the defensive zone effectively which would explain his team worst -14 last season.

I've looked at him closely and i've come to the conclusion that he's too soft in the defensive zone, lets players get around him too easily and lacks general defensive awareness. He gets hemmed in his own zone constantly and bumbles the puck too often for my own liking.

His offensive game is not bad, he puts up good point totals, but he's not a driver of play for a $5.5M defenceman who struggles mightily in his own zone. I was hoping he'd improve his defensive game over the summer, but looks exactly the same. I wouldn't be sad to see him go and if there's a way to swing a deal for Jacob Trouba, I'm all for it.

my thoughts exactly...i was too lazy to post in OP.