Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Russell and Wideman were bad as a pair last year, no question.
But I think the fact that the forwards were typically 100 ft up the ice most of the time contributed to that.
I would prefer we move on, but if Russell is signed at a decent price, that's fine. He is a serviceable NHL defenseman.
And I think one of his biggest shortcomings is gap control, which is interesting because Gulutzan talks extensively about that and I am hoping that gap control is going to be a big focus and a source of improvement this year.
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A lot of the reason that Russell Wideman pairing was so bad was because Wideman was BRUTAL with in zone coverage. But like you said, they also didn't get a ton of support from the forward group that they got to play with.
The guy is pretty underrated around these parts IMO. I think the trade value we got for him shows that.