So, now Killer's limited minutes are Chiller's fault? Sweet. That's a theory I have not seen up until this point.
I still keep waiting for the Pro-Killer crowd to explain to me why he averaged less minutes than McQ, a similar d-man?
Regardless of what happens, it comes down to this for me:
Going forward, is there anybody that doesn't think the plan is to go with Carlo and McAvoy as the Top 4 RHD? If that's the case, then McQ, Killer, and Chiller are going to be 3rd pair D (barring injury). You have two guys in McQ and Killer that bring similar attributes and are both capable of playing Top 4 minutes in a pinch. You also have Chiller, who is an enigma at this point.
Given the nature of the draft, if you protect Colin, you are only going to lose one of McQ or Killer, and will have the other as your 3rd pair D, with Chiller as the 7. If you lose Colin to Expansion, that leaves you with two very similar 3rd pair D that both make over $2.5m for multiple years (Chiller makes a mil), neither being much of a puck mover.
In the pipeline, barring any surprises, the closest D is probably O'Gara. He's a good skater, but still more of a stay at home guy, which you already get in 54/86. By my way of thinking, you protect the player that brings something you have less of, and in the B's case, that's definitely the PMD as opposed to a defensive guy.