It's not a bad defense but that sentence is faked news.
Brodie looks like garbage in the last 2 yrs. He is still living off the hype of a lucky year 2 yrs ago
Hamonic and Stone underachieved and inconsistent.
Hanifin is still developing
Kulak is waiver material
Only Gio is as good as anybody in the league.
I disagree. Brodie hasn't been good, but also had a lot of off ice issues that he is handling now. He also was shifted to a position he hadn't played before and played under a system that nobody handled well. He'll rebound and has shown that already this preseason.
Hamonic, despite his struggles last year from playing in a new system, has been a good top 4 D in his career. Skates well, defensively sound, has grit.
Stone has played well. The issue most have is that he's overpaid and that we have young Andersson ready to take over. Has a NHL shot that he needs to use more.
All of the above (except Andersson) are 28 in their prime years. Stone is slower than Hamonic and Brodie, but generally they are a good skating trio.
Kulak is basically a 3rd year player and is still developing. His progression has been steady. He is getting stronger on the puck, skates well, and is making better decisions. His problem is that there are guys like Valimaki and Kylington nipping at his heels. Doesn't mean he isn't as good as any other 5 or 6 D.
Hanifin will be a far better player than Hamilton. Already there are signs that his give a shite meter is higher than Dougie who arguably played like a panzy while he was here, a powder puff.
Gio is the most under-rated D-man in the league. Even at 35, he's in the top quartile of defensemen.
If Treliving went out to shore up the right wing, he most certainly wouldn't have made deep changes to the D if he agreed with your position.