I feel like he is a bit better in his own end these days but still pretty poor against top level forwards when the team gets hemmed in. Often when I channel surfed and saw the oilers I feel like the first thing I've seen is him in his own end after a goal with his head back looking at the rafters.
He's definitely improved offensively, especially his ability to get shots through on net, but I think his peripherals around defending have improved so much largely because he plays with McDavid and Draisatl 2/3 of his icetime and he spends way less time in his own end than other dmen in the league. If he were on a team where he spent more time in his own end, I think he'd get buried.
Hoping for a big # for them, further tying the oilers hands and sticking them with their current tragically flawed roster
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