The Kingslayer
Registered User
I'm glad I'm not the only one who notices this. He's elite defensively alright. Like, really really good. Little things like when he's covering the puck carrier at the point, he gets the stick to the side but also turns his feet. This takes away the passing lane to the side but also makes the gaps between your body even smaller. He never pivots away, always into the play which again reduces gaps extremely quickly. His reading of the play and anticipation is unbelievable, like how he recognized MacK is twice as fast as him, knew MacK would go for the poke because he wouldn't want to establish physical contact with Wheeler, closed up his body to ricochet it back. Almost never chases in his own zone, uses his reach and size to influence the puck carrier's direction into less desirable offensive situations. I noticed it a year ago or so, but against the Predators and us he was just unbelievable defensively. I wonder if his two-way ability is properly recognized, because he's as efficient and dynamic as it gets in all three zones.
I think only the Jets and few fans in the Central realize it.