Where Wideman is severely underrated, Russell is overrated. Both are pretty solid hockey players and played really well down the stretch for us last season.
I am glad that Russell is good at defending, because that is what he ends up doing all the time. He needs to play on the bottom pairing to be efficient consistently. Sure he can move the puck up at times, he's a good shot blocker and a hard worker. But he lacks size, shot, puck skills and strength.
As for Wideman, he is what he is, a very good offensive d-man who's average in his own zone. Watch him play with Gio and you'll see how good he is, if anything, it's Russell that is the weak link on that pairing.
Keep them both, but shuffle the pairings. Gio won't work with Hamilton, at least not now, so spread out the minutes and put him with Wideman and get Brodie to breathe some life in to Hamilton.
Russell is good enough to lift either Smid or Engelland and makes a solid third pairing.
In the long term we have options, sure, but we don't know whom or when. There isn't one single player not on the flames that will make the blueline better. Nakladal? Borderline improvement on Smid or Engelland maybe, as for the rest, neither Kulak or Wotherspoon, or anyone else for that matter has succeded to lock down a spot in the NHL. Unless we are giving up on the season, we need both Wideman and Russell.
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