Tender Rip
Wears long pants
You overrate McQuaid big time. Or you are more familiar with his stats than his game, role and place with Boston. And enough with the capitalization as substitute for argument, please.
And what about the mean nasty edge and shot blocking?
I would like to have either of those guys as a 7 option and fill in, but there is no way in hell you can't tell me McQuid isn't leaps and bounds better than those two.
aside from being 6'4" I think Bortuzzo and Strait could fill the basic stay at home defensive d-man role.
Pairing him with a guy like Martin or Letang I think would do wonders for the defense. He will always be back there to cover their mistakes and he is a BIG mean dude to knock people on their ass in front of MAF or punch-a-size their face if they start taking liberties.
They only guy who is even remotely in the mold is Engelland and McQuaid is a hell of a lot better than him.
Orpik Letang
Martin McQuaid
Nisk Engelland
Strait / Bort
That to me a decent balance of PMD and D-Dmen with some grit & bite.
^ I just don't see top 4 D in Adam McQuaid. I think he'd be in over his head in that role but I've only watched him sporadically. A Bruins fan may better be able to say what his likely ceiling is.
Doesn't happen. If McQuaid is in, Engelland is out. Their too similar. And neither is really capable of playing 20 mins a night. McQuaid's never averaged more than 15min a game in Boston. He's really not that much better than Engelland. Younger, bigger and a tad meaner (but I believe he fights less). Perhaps he could grow into his game like Engelland has. But I don't really ever see him being a 20min guy.
Where are we getting this idea that Martin is an offensive D? He's NOT. He's a PMD who excels in a trap/defensive role. And he really needs to play with someone with some size to deal with big forwards. We saw him excel 2 years ago when Sid and Geno were out, and DB played a trap. Then he and Michalek stunk it up when they were asked to play a more up tempo game.
I wish someone would tell Martin this. I think he gets in trouble trying to do too much out there. He's good when he plays a simple conservative defensive game like he did in Jersey but I think he may have bought into all the people telling him that trapping system held him back offensively and once the shackles came off in our system his career took a turn for the worse.
aside from being 6'4" I think Bortuzzo and Strait could fill the basic stay at home defensive d-man role.
LOL, I thought and thought what the hell did you mean by that until I googled it and went to YT!Our untouchables for me are Crosby, Malkin, Neal and Letang. That's it.
That's the tastiest crunch I've ever heard! Seriously, I'd love Vlasic. Don't see it happening though. TK, Tangradi, Niskanen, Despres and a pick for Vlasic and Clowe. Ya, no way.
Bortuzzo brings what we need in a stay at home D-man. He's home grown. And is subject to waivers this year. No reason to bring in someone for the bottom pairing. None.
I see the organization targeting someone who can help Letang get going offensively. Ideally, a short term solution so he won't cost the usual king's ransom that top 4 D usually get. Gives us cap flexibility when resigning Geno/Tanger and leaves room for our defensive pipeline to move up the depth chart.
Boyle-Letang
Orpik-Martin
Despres-Bortuzzo
Move Niskanen+TK+Jeffrey+D prospect+1st for a stopgap D-man and a top 6 winger and we're the team to beat come postseason.
I'm not sure I like the Boyle fit...love the player though.
If we trade for a top-4 defenseman, I want a more proven physical stay at home defender than Bortuzzo or Strait. Granted they are hard to find at a fair price... But it would put a lot if my worries to rest.
OHH Goody team Letang up with a small Offensive D Man ! That ought to end well
I'm not sure I like the Boyle fit...love the player though.
If we trade for a top-4 defenseman, I want a more proven physical stay at home defender than Bortuzzo or Strait. Granted they are hard to find at a fair price... But it would put a lot if my worries to rest.
Lidstrom/Rafalski was a dynamic pairing for the Wings. If we had landed Yandle last summer in a Staal trade, would you ***** about pairing him with Letang? B/c that's what they'd do.
I get what you are saying, but to be honest, Strait was steadier in the playoffs than most of the vets.
We should never compare ourselves with Detroit. Lidstrom-Rafalski worked for Detroit. Doesn't mean 95% of the time it's still a good idea. It's not. Because there will only be one Nick Lidstrom in the NHL...ever.
Most stick-checking D-men face an uphill battle in this league. Case in point the Pens-Flyers series last spring.
We should never compare ourselves with Detroit. Lidstrom-Rafalski worked for Detroit. Doesn't mean 95% of the time it's still a good idea. It's not. Because there will only be one Nick Lidstrom in the NHL...ever.
Most stick-checking D-men face an uphill battle in this league. Case in point the Pens-Flyers series last spring.
Letang's ideal partner? Maybe it's someone like Carl Gunnarsson of the Leafs. Very steady, unspectacular, fairly mobile. Not offensive-minded, but Letang is. Not physical, but Letang is. Can long big minutes, like Letang does.
The problem? Gunnarsson plays with Phaneuf on the Leafs' top pairing. I doubt he's available.
Letang's ideal partner? Maybe it's someone like Carl Gunnarsson of the Leafs. Very steady, unspectacular, fairly mobile. Not offensive-minded, but Letang is. Not physical, but Letang is. Can long big minutes, like Letang does.
The problem? Gunnarsson plays with Phaneuf on the Leafs' top pairing. I doubt he's available.
Sounds a lot like Rob Scuderi. A slow them down til the Calvalry arrives type of player. Honestly if Martin could rebound he could easily fill that role. With LeTang in the first pairing, it's really the 2nd pairing that concerns me, I just don't see a solid 2nd pairing that you can make out of Martin Orpik Niskanen no matter which one plays with LeTang.
Letang's ultimate partner may very well become a guy like Robert Bortuzzo. Odds of Bortuzzo being able to eat those kind of mins is probably not very likely, but that's who Letang would benefit from. The less Letang has to worry about defense, the better.
I personally think Robyn Regehr would be the best for Letang.