Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Using McDavid and Draisaitl as examples is misleading to say the least. They don’t even try to play D.
I just don’t think Tkachuk is amazing at D and certainly not enough to anchor a line defensively, as proposed. He’s not a liability but he’s not Backlund or Lindholm. I think Ryan and Dube are better defensively as well.
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Put another way - when Lindholm was playing well, he freed Gaudreau and Monahan, because he could cover. I just don’t see that in Tkachuk - he’s not coming back from behind the offensive net, to be a backchecking force. He doesn’t have the wheels.
I’d need to see Tkachuk’s stats isolated from Backlund.