Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
IMO he is expecting a whole lot more offensive contribution from the back end.
For good reason as well.
Last year they were abysmal in the regard.
While its fact that SM and JG need to be better in both ends of the ice compared to last season, its equally true that the blueline was not a big contributor on the offensive side.
Tanev will allow proper slotting of guys to attempt 3 pairings of one offensive guy and one defensive first guy and maybe the whole club can just roll the same regardless of what pairing is one the ice. Adding one more RS defense first dman actually would help in this regard IMO to pair him with Valimaki....or even have Tanev/Valimaki as a pairing depending on where JV's game is at in his comeback.
Defense first is what the entire club will be asked and generate your offense from that.
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Brodie was a big part of the transition game and he wasn't really replaced as it's a lot to expect Valimaki to just step in the role of puck moving defenseman. I'm also not confident Gio will be as good without Brodie on the other side. Time will tell but I just don't see where additional offensive contributions from the back end are coming from with a declining Gio and no replacement for Brodie.