I don't envy Sutter right now. I can't come up with 3 working pairs of defencemen that I like.
Hanifin - Tanev: Great pairing obviously, but it leaves the other pairings weak IMO.
Kylington - Tanev: It has looked good (and I like Kylington and want him to succeed), but is the expectation that he goes from a 6th/7th defencemen right up to the top pairing (Tanev is this team's best defensive defencemen, and you have to use him against the top lines IMO)? Right into the fire? I don't know.
Zadorov - Andersson - I don't like this as a 2nd pair - they are both not agile enough and are questionable defensively IMO. Seems like a 2nd pair that will give you fits too often.
There is a lot of depth on D, which is a bonus (and if the Flames are in it, I expect Treliving not to spend draft picks on acquiring more depth defencemen unless there are a couple of injuries this season back there). I just have a more and more difficult time in making out 3 good pairs. I can't wait to see what Sutter ends up with for the opening night roster. I am sure there will be people who both praise it and detest it.
Gudbranson is in. Kylington has done nothing but earn a spot so far too. There is no way that Valimaki is going to be out.
One thing is great to see for sure - Kylington is making things more difficult for Sutter I think, but also Zadorov has been making it more difficult for the wrong reasons (defensive lapses, horrible puck-moving).
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