When it comes to the Yandle decision there's very little for me to worry about. First it's important to realize that they are discussing some of the top defensemen in the world. I'm sure Burke could find a spot for Yandle on the Flames.
Secondly, there's no reason to believe Burke discounted anything. Yandle's merit to the team was his puck-moving and offensive capabilities. It was far from just Burke who had issues with his defense (you can tell the coaches didn't want Yandle on the team either). And even his biggest supporter in Lombardi didn't have much faith in his defensive abilities
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"If you ask our coaches," Lombardi says, "Yandle scares us more than Shattenkirk."
"He's not great defensively but he's not soft," Lombardi continues.
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So then you have to weigh if his great offense is worth his defensive liabilities. Burke wasn't the only one to question it, obviously, especially considering that they intended to have Pavelski play the point on the PP along with Suter and Shattenkirk, while Fowler and well their entire defense is capable of playing on the PP. So they didn't seem to need a PP specialist.
And then there's just the fact that Burke was far from the only one who suggested it.
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"What if we just lose our first couple of games? We're just no [darn] good," Bowman says.
You know guys such as Suter, McDonagh and Martin will bounce back, he says. But the coaches need to be able to move guys around as they see fit if the team doesn't play well early in the tournament.
If that's the case, then it's not a bad thing to have guys ranked four through eight who can be mixed around.
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Stan Bowman wants to be able to mix and match if needed. Yandle, a player they all agreed they don't quite have faith in his defense, would not be able to play in the top 4. If there was an injury they wouldn't feel comfortable having him move up the depth chart. It wasn't just Burke saying this stuff, it seemed closer to everyone but Lombardi.
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Poile reports that the coaches feel that based on current level of play Fowler is the best for them. He's a better all-around player and can play in more situations in their estimation.
If there is an injury in the top group, they would feel more comfortable moving Fowler up the depth chart than Jack Johnson or Yandle.
Although the Yandle issue was discussed in depth in California, the coaches don't believe there is that big a drop-off in offensive talent if Yandle isn't on the roster, plus they are planning to use Joe Pavelski on the point, which will minimize the need for a purely offensive defenseman in man-advantage situations.
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Johnson vs Ryan is one thing, but I think anything to do with Burke and Yandle is being blown out of proportion.