Quote:
Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy
I like Petrovic even more than Pysyk myself. 25 year old 6'4" 215lb right shooting Dman who can skate and move the puck. He's a blossoming young modern day shut down defender.
Either would be a great add, but if Vegas takes one they won't likely trade him away.
It's funny because with all the talk about Anaheim and Minny needing to move a quality young defender or lose him to Vegas, no one talks about FLA who have Ekblad, Yandle, Demers, Petrovic and Pysyk.
If they're asking Yandle to waive, then they may also be planning on leaving Demers exposed as well who was also a Rowe addition.
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Here's an unsolicited opinion from someone who follows the Panthers:
Pysyk is a much better defender than Petrovic currently, and is also the same age. Petro has some qualities that make you think he can be an important player, but he still makes quite a few mistakes in his own end that make you shake your head. Far too many for a guy who is 25 and has played in the league for several years. I'd keep Pysyk over Petrovic, but I'd try to move Petrovic in a trade since he has trade value.
Demers was great in the 1st half, but kinda lousy in the 2nd half. Part of that is probably because Tom Rowe was a terrible coach as well as being a terrible GM. The team had no structure at all after Gallant was fired. I'm willing to give Demers a pass because he had a good year offensively and I know he can play better defensively than he did last year.
As for Yandle being asked to waive his NMC, you better believe that's because Tallon doesn't like him. That was a move from the advanced stats guys, which would make you think they would have done their homework on a guy like Yandle who regularly costs his team goals, but nope. While Ekblad didn't have the year that he would have liked, largely it's because he spent so much time with Yandle trying to clean up his mistakes. Ekblad wasn't great either, but with a partner like Yandle constantly making costly turnovers and being pretty bad down low in his own end, Ekblad was forced to do a lot of heavy lifting and his stats took a beating because of it.
I didn't like that contract the day it was signed because Yandle's deficiencies are covered up by the fact he puts up points. Watching him last year only cemented my belief that he's more of a liability on the ice than a helper to others. The team defense last year was terrible, and Yandle had a LOT of minutes that figured into that equation. He's got a lot of years left on that deal at a hefty cap hit, so I'd be thrilled if Vegas took him.
To add to the list of quality defensemen you listed (Ekblad, Demers, Pysyk, and Petrovic) the Panthers also have 2 guys that are likely to be top 4 defensemen in Mike Matheson (who played top 4 most of last year) and Ian McCoshen (who will likely take the spot of any player claimed by Vegas this year). If the Panthers lose Yandle, they're still set with a lot of good defensemen. Maybe not elite, but good.