Nervous? I'm excited about it.
Sure, the relatively stability of the past few seasons was nice, but that was never going to last forever. Orpik is retired, Niskanen was in decline, and young prospects were pushing their way into more playing time. And we saw last year that the stability had morphed into rigidity. The defense proved woefully incapable of handling injuries and declining play, with Orlov/Niskanen no longer the reliable pairing it had been in past seasons and Carlson's pairings bleeding shots/chances/goals against at an unmatched rate.
This is an opportunity, both for younger players trying to prove their worth, and for the team as a whole to get a new look on defense. They have an $8M D that many on this board claim to be a Top 5 D in the NHL. They have a $5.1M D that has played a shutdown role on a Stanley Cup champion, that you believe could be a 1D on many teams, and that many believe (myself included) is one of the better value D's in the NHL. These are foundational pieces they can build around. They have plenty of options and capable defensemen to build around on the back-end, and some fluidity in pairings doesn't have to be a negative thing. They aren't counting on Tyler Sloan or Taylor Chorney or Jack Hillen or Tyson Strachan or Steve Oleksy to play on their blueline. This D will go as their cornerstones go and as the team's defensive systems go. And hopefully having more capable options will allow the coaching staff to find pairings that work in a variety of situations, and give them options when a player gets hurt or slumps.