Quote:
Originally Posted by saillias
Agreed. However seems a taboo opinion to have this year. I have suggested we could use an upgrade on our 2nd pairing and get lots of emotional blasts about how great Russell and Wideman are. It's always the bottom pairing's fault in Calgary.
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Oh come on.
You can try to upgrade our 2nd pairing, and that's fine because they aren't necessarily a cup winning duo playing 3/4 minutes, but if you're doing so and getting a legitimate NHL 3/4 D-man who is actually significantly,
not marginally,
BETTER than those two, you would have to give up a lot, probably mostly in youth pieces or draft picks. That would be absolutely fool-hardy to do at this stage.
Both Russell and Wideman are solid 2nd pairing defensemen that have done a pretty decent job all year long, and there are plenty of stats to back that up, not just an emotional argument. The same cannot be said for the 3rd pairing, who have given up a lot without adding much offensively despite limited playing time, and there are also stats to back that up. There are plenty of cheap options out there to upgrade that pair effectively without giving up anything of significance. Olsen for nothing is a pretty decent deal for the Flames, especially when he's likely our 5th best defenseman immediately.