Quote:
Originally Posted by jroc
Unless you're Cheerio, you still have a ways to go to get into the conversation of having the best top 6 in the league by simply adding Schlemko.
|
- Best top 3 defenseman group in the NHL.
-#4 defenseman who has
already looked good in our system in a #5 role, who is solid defensively, somewhat physical, and really good at carrying the puck with his great stickhandling as well as having a knack for holding the puck in at the blue line.
- #5 defenseman right hand shot who is capable of 50+ points and is flat out a luxury to have.
- #6 defenseman who is healthy and looking like the #4 defenseman he used to be before the Oilers broke him.
- #7 defenseman who is having a hell of a great season himself.
Right now, the Flames have one hole, and that's Kris Russell. Not only does he not score a whole lot relative to his ice time for a so-called puck moving D, he's simultaneously a possession black hole and
that has a trickle-down effect. It forces Gio and Brodie to have to start more and more shifts defensively, the need to shelter Russell often eats into what should be bottom pair sheltering, and it generally kills momentum. Look how good the Flames have looked against the Blackhawks and the Bruins without Russell - none of those hemmed in sequences that we're so familiar with. Because despite being our most offensively-utilized defenseman, he's the single player against whom play goes the other way at a rapid pace and it hurts everybody else. You look at how defensively Gio and Brodie are used and it's almost unmatched by any other top pair in the NHL because no other middle pair in the NHL has the play go against them so often. I like Kris Russell, but he needs to be our #5D
just like Wideman does, and no they shouldn't be a pairing again. Ever. All four of our bottom defensemen - Russell, Wideman, Engelland, Smid are pretty decent individually but their fit, both with the top 3 and each other is holding the team back. Schlemko is the perfect fit with Hamilton, and I feel like I said this since the day we traded for Hamilton.
I'm not Cheerio, but I did agree with a lot of what he said about Schlemko. Schlemko is pretty good.