If I understood your comment correctly, you'd still be asking OEL to play significant minutes on this team if he were making 1 million a year? After playing some of the worst hockey we've witnessed?
Whatever claim you're making with your years of playing experience just left the building.
You realize I'm comparing him to what we currently have available, right?
Is everyone here really unaware of the impact of playing against top lines versus middle 6 or 4th liners?
OEL is in way over his head right now and isn't playing well. Part of why he is over his head is because our other 2 LD are basically not trusted NHlers and I mean that in the most basic way. Like Rathbone's instincts defensively have been appalling in most of his games, but were better last game.
Brisebois is not an NHLer. He got absolutely posterized for 5 alarm chances twice against Seattle.
OEL is not worse than they are, and playing without him would make things worse.
We need Hughes and Dermott to return and to dial back his minutes, but until they return we have no choice but to keep leaning on him.