Quote:
Originally Posted by FAN
Smid and Russell at their best are legitimate #4 Dman in my view. The issue is they need to be at their best. If not, they are closer to being #5 in the league. Still, I don't think those two being our second pairing necessarily makes this team a bottom 5 team. It's not ideal, but I think they are good enough to make this team competitive.
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Just my thoughts - not trying to pretend I know anything in particular.
It's not really about that pairing on defense... more about the Flames offense.
I like Smid a lot. He is very valuable, imo. But his numbers are truly terrible when it comes to driving offense. So as part of a third pairing, in a secondary shutdown role of some type - maybe killing penalties as well, Smid is great. Otherwise he effectively eliminates the possibility for Flames offense while he is on the ice - and this team will likely struggle to score already (assuming most talent remains in the AHL). Russell is OK but not a guy to drive this pairing anywhere else, imo.
That's why I suggested the McDavid sweepstakes were a lock with that second pairing.