the thing about all these depth defensemen is that they all lack specialties, which is why they're depth defensemen. the expectation for playing at even strength as a bottom pair guy is that you don't get murdered in your own zone. there are a lot of guys who can do that. the second expectation is that you're able to offer valuable special teams minutes in some capacity. people wonder a lot about why guys like brooks orpik, ben lovejoy, ian cole, chris tanev, derek engelland, nik hjalmarsson, etc. continually get jobs around the league. those guys kill about 3 minutes worth of penalties per game at a high level. they move bodies out from in front of the net and keep the crease clean. there are a litany of guys at the ahl level that could offer more at even strength, but having penalty killers that know their job and embrace that part of their game allows the top end of your defense to be fresh for offensive opportunities without being taxed too much by those hard minutes. having depth defensemen that makes the top end of your defense better is the dream for every club.