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Originally Posted by Caged Great
Yes we do. A 2 year deal would be perfect for expansion team exposure, and we need a #4. Currently the Flames have 3 top pairing D-men, and three bottom pairing D-men (Jokipakka, Wideman, Engelland). All things considered, Russell is a decent #4. He would make the team better.
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Russell is a decent #4 in the exact same sense Wideman and Jokipakka are decent #4s - none of the three look out of place being carried by a strong partner (like Giordano, Brodie, and Hamilton) but none is an Alec Martinez or Paul Martin who is going to be a #4 on every team in the league.
Is Russell better than Jokipakka? We had better results defensively last year with Jokipakka IMO. Scoring might favor Russell but I thought that was more because of the absence of Hudler. Even if Russell is better - I don't think the gap is large enough to justify any high cost.
As for Wideman V Russell, it's interesting. A Brodie/Wideman second pair or a Russell/Hamilton second pair. Wideman is a lot more useful if Brodie can cover for him if you ask me due to his offense. He may be slow, but he can still generate offense. Which for a team like ours with an average forward core and excellent goaltending, is likely to make a big difference.
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If it's cheap enough, why not?
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Because
1) Cheap " for a #4 " could still be expensive and difficult to move for a #5 and there is a real risk that he will be supplanted as a #4. He has yet to show he is a true #4. Do I want to believe he could be in the right system? Sure. He has not proven it yet. He has proven he has aspects that resemble a #4 and aspects that resemble a #5.
2) As an addendum to the above, given the "way" we want to play, I am not convinced he even is an upgrade as #5 on Kulak or Kylington who will both be much more sheltered in a system like this, making their strengths more valuable . The last time he played on a team that played an aggressive style was with the Blues, and he quickly fell down the depth chart to #6/#7 status.
3) The "giving up assets to move Smid" bit makes me nervous. I like Russell but I am not willing to give up significant assets to reacquire him given the risk that he continues to be a possession black hole.