Again with this aging EJ stuff. He's played great for a couple months now, and has been a stud defensively during their wins recently.
"Again with this aging EJ stuff". What? Erik Johnson is going to be 31 years old next month. This is when players slow down and decline. Are you arguing against the existence of father time? "Aging EJ" isn't "stuff". Erik Johnson is aging, Erik Johnson is on the wrong side of 30 and God knows has suffered enough injuries on his body, aging players with wear and tear decline, end of conversation.
You guys have unrealistic expectations for what Sakic should add to the Avs blue line. Especially when they're building around Girard (20 years old) Makar (20 years old) Timmins (20 years old) and Zadorov (23 years old). It seems as though it's either Karlsson or the blue line sucks.
Hoping for the addition of one quality top four defensman, while retaining the handful of top four defensmen this team currently has without aimlessly losing them like a bunch of the gadabouts on this board desire is not unrealistic.
Your list of what the defense is being built around is unrealistic. Why is Connor Timmins there? He has not played hockey since
May. He suffered a very serious concussion, he's still not playing hockey games, and he just lost a full year of development at the most critical age. Pencilling him in anywhere right now is beyond my comprehension. Did we learn nothing from Chris Bigras, who was also a high end second rounder this fanbase pencilled in on every roster, whose career was derailed by a couple concussions (none of which took him out as long as Timmins'....)? Connor Timmins is someone I sure hope can be a player for us long term, but counting on it? "Building" around him?
There is zero reason to believe they are building this defense around Zadorov. He's credibly been in trade rumours, and he's going to be a 24 year old going into this offseason needed a new contract with a track record of uneven play.
Cale Makar and Sam Girard are the only two young D / prospects that can be counted on right now. That's two youngsters, one of which is already being relied on in a top four role, on a team currently lacking a top four defensman, with one of the teams' top four defensmen aging and the other whom half of this board can't wait to trade for a shiny new toy (Drouin!).
So that's two defensmen who can be relied on in top four roles for the next 5 years, three if Barrie is kept.
That blue line is a lot better than what they have now. Get back to me in a couple years about how the Avs top 4 sucks with Makar and Girard, plus whoever else they have.
It's not a lot better. It's a
big downgrade from Barrie to Myers. Myers is a 29 year old who is soft as hell, mediocre offensively, and ridiculously inconsistent defensively. I have no time for a 6'8 giant who plays like he's 5'8. The only upgrade that would occur on the blue line would be entirely dependent on whatever Makar does out of the gate.
And I thought we were talking about now, not in "a couple years".
I think I'll bail out of this one since I know the Tyson Barrie road we're about to head down as the next logical step of this conversation, and God knows this board has killed that topic.
