phanuef has been fine. He's not a great shutdown dman.
I think it's tough to be a good offensive-focussed young dman. You put up points and get all kinds of recognition, you get the big pay day, and are considered a top pairing dman. Unfortunately, now you're stuck playing against other team's top lines, and are exposed defensively at times, and are not able to jump into the rush and pot the kind of numbers as you did to get the contract.
i feel like this is a continuing trend in the new nhl, where offensive dmen are considered so valuable.
to be fair to phaneuf, he's usually playing with a "nobody" partner.
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