It is definitely an issue that's hurt us all year. Our break out and neutral zone play have been piss poor for the past two seasons. However that doesn't change the fact that our defense is weak. We have constant turnovers that expose our goaltender to a one on one or two on one right in front of the net. I think our D needs a definite retooling this summer.
Campbell is hands down our best defenseman as far as moving the puck and getting offense going. Guds is still developing, but I think next season he can make the jump to a solid second pairing shut down d-man. Whether his offense ever comes around is a giant question mark, but at this point I'm more interested in his defense. Kulikov shows flashes of being better than Campbell at moving the puck but is very inconsistent. However, I think he still has room to grow and I look at him as being a candidate to making that next step next season as well. Jovo is what he is: an aging captain. He'd be impossible to trade and I doubt he retires with one more year left, so I'm fine with him anchoring our third pairing. I do not think he is as bad as people say this season, especially when we limit him to ~12 min per game. Again, not saying he's great, but I think he provides leadership and experience and is fairly effective with a smaller role. I haven't been too impressed with Olsen after those first 10-15 games after the trade, but I think he could end up being a great anchor for our third pairing for the future. Gilbert has been a fairly pleasant surprise, but I think its mostly due to playing with Campbell and I think we should've moved him. Either way I don't want him resigned.
I think this team needs at least one legit pairing D-man. I was hoping Girardi would go to UFA so we could overpay the **** out of him, but that's not happening. Hopefully we get lucky and can sign Ekblad, but I have a feeling Edmonton or NYI take him (looking like they'll finish below us). I would love to sign Niskanen, I think he'd be great on the top pairing with Campbell or the second pairing with Kuli or Guds. Also, although Andrew Macdonald is a little overrated, I wouldn't mind signing him for 3-4 years. He can block shots and has shown he can play that top pairing role on an arguably worse defense than ours (NYI). Aside from that I don't think UFA looks all that great for Dmen. Maybe Orpik for 2-3 yrs?
I think Petro should be left down one more season to gain experience and then come in ready to roll in '15-'16. Matheson should be moved to the AHL for a year or two, and McCoshen should probably stay at BC one more year. Robak should once again get a shot at the big club for the third pairing, but he doesn't make it I wouldn't be surprised. We've got some great young talent on D, but they're all a few years away so UFA is critical this year.