Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
It seems like Jokipakka is a younger and almost as good defenceman...
|
Because Russell has proven already that he can handle real middle pair minutes. That's huge for a bottom pair guy because now when you have injuries to an Oduya or Demers the guy who's stepping up isn't going to Justin Schultz or Deryk Engelland on you. Russell might not be a true middle pair defenseman but he's a Dman who can step into a middle pair role and get enough fresh air to breathe.
We don't
know if that's true of Jokipakka immediately, and he's played minutes only slightly more difficult than Tyler Wotherspoon (Further up / left is more difficult, further down/right is more sheltered. All zone start and possession coloring are relative to team).
You can see that Jokipakka was basically playing the kind of minutes we had Wideman playing. 3rd pairing.