I don't understand the kneejerk negative reaction about Bahl. He just finished his 23 year old season and progressed very steadily playing 7 then 17 then 42, and finally a full slate of 82 games.
He's got great size and looks to be a very good defensive player. His underlying numbers look pretty good as he had a 51.87 xGF% which was 5th on the Devils for D who played over 200 minutes. His actual goals for % is third on the Devils D at 49.21% and that's with goalies save percentage being under .900 when he was on the ice at 5 on 5.
I really doubt that he has topped out for his potential in his first full season in the NHL. Huska has coached a lot of solid defensemen in his career and I expect that he'll be able to get more out of Bahl as he enters his prime. Hopefully he can show some chemistry with Andersson and allow Rasmus to play a little more offensively.
I'm pretty happy with the trade. As good as Markstrom was, he was pretty inconsistent in his time with the Flames and I don't think that the fanbase really connected with him.
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