Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan
People need to stop saying Russell is a bottom pairing defenseman. He might be on the deepest d-corps in the league (which the Flames can be in the conversation of), but fact remains he hasn't played on the bottom pairing in several years.
|
Yeah he could easily play top 4 on many teams. I think ideally he'd be on your 3rd pairing if you're one of the top teams in the league. And that is what we're trying to work toward. If you assume Treliving is looking for one more stud young defenseman to go along with Gio, Brodie and Hamilton to form an elite top 4 then Russell slides in nicely as our #5 long term. If you think he's our #5 long term on a deep defense then you can't pay him as a top 4. That's my point. I think he can play top 4 for a lot of teams but I think in our dream scenario he'd be our #5 guy. If he's willing to pay a slight pay cut to stay here then we can do it otherwise I think he'll be dealt.
How do we acquire the 4th top four guy? Well we may already have him in Kylington, Andersson, Hickey, etc or we may draft one high this year. Treliving could pull off another Hamilton deal at some point too. I think ideally the guy to add to our mix would be big, strong, fast, physical, skilled and mean. Hamilton is big but doesn't really punish. Love to see another big guy added who is naturally more physical. There's a few appealing d-men at the top end this year if we just miss out on the crazy forwards.