I don't see what people are complaining about with Barrie and Elliott. Lets say both are average defensively and both hit approximately 40pts. The throw in EJ who is probably capable of 30pts, and then also throw in Seimens who hopefully will become a Adam Foote type shutdown physical guy, and then assuming we draft Seth Jones its tough to judge what his offensive abilities will be but 40-50+ pts doesn't see unrealistic, I'd say that is one hell of a defensive core especially if you add in Hejda or another vet stay at home type. In 2 to 3 years the Avs could easily have one of the top 5 defenses in the entire league.
Just because Elliott and Barrie aren't going to be perennial Norris candidates doesn't make them worthless, we just need to be realistic with what their potential is. To say Elliott is going to be a shutdown 60pts+ # 1Dman is unrealistic but a 40pts #4 or #5 guy is realistic. Barrie isn't a #1 either, his defense is better than Elliott's but his offense isn't as strong as Elliott's so realistically Barrie is probably a #3 or #4 with 35pts capability. But this is ok when you have guys that can fill other roles.
In 2 years I could probably see a depth chart of:
#1 Jones (assuming we draft him)
#2 EJ
#3 Barrie
#4 Seimens
#5 Elliott
#6 tough to say as it could be someone we have now or maybe a prospect that has yet to break through who knows
but 1-5 looks pretty solid and no one looks to be out of place.
Just because Elliott and Barrie aren't going to be perennial Norris candidates doesn't make them worthless, we just need to be realistic with what their potential is. To say Elliott is going to be a shutdown 60pts+ # 1Dman is unrealistic but a 40pts #4 or #5 guy is realistic. Barrie isn't a #1 either, his defense is better than Elliott's but his offense isn't as strong as Elliott's so realistically Barrie is probably a #3 or #4 with 35pts capability. But this is ok when you have guys that can fill other roles.
In 2 years I could probably see a depth chart of:
#1 Jones (assuming we draft him)
#2 EJ
#3 Barrie
#4 Seimens
#5 Elliott
#6 tough to say as it could be someone we have now or maybe a prospect that has yet to break through who knows
but 1-5 looks pretty solid and no one looks to be out of place.