Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
I thought Kylington struggled as well. But overall, he has had a good camp. I thought Gudbranson was mostly unnoticeable, which I think is mostly a good thing. Together, they struggled.
The most important thing about the game though, IMO, was the play of Hanifin-Andersson. To me, this is the most important development of the pre-season, and the most vital piece in the determination of the season (other than goaltending).
If Hanifin-Andersson can be a solid top pairing (like they were last night), that frees up Tanev to play on the 2nd pair. And Tanev, paired with anyone, is a good 2nd pair.
And that in turn allows for one of Valimaki or Kylington to play on the 3rd pair, giving it some mobility and some offense.
In other words, the entire defense comes together nicely, as long as Hanifin-Andersson provide a solid top pairing.
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Agreed.
This camp and then this season will ride on the backs of the 3 young defensemen.
A return to what looked to be the course for Andersson and Valimaki, and Kylington establishing himself as a full time NHLer changes the complexion of the team considerably.
So good sign with Andersson, good camp for Kylington and we will see .. not the Valimaki pop I was hoping for.
But Andersson specifically returning to solid NHL defenseman is huge for the team's fortunes.