Most won't but I agree with this, clendening may be much better as far as skating and moving the puck but Girardi is better from a defensive standpoint. Too keep the post on topic we all know if G is healthy he's playing over Clendening, I don't understand why people continue to ***** about it it's about as sure a thing as the sun rising. So the healthier G is the better.
Great answer below:
The problem with this line of thought is that defense and offense are inextricably linked in hockey. If you're very good at moving the puck up ice and shifting the play back to offense, that is in and of itself a form of defense. When you're on offense, the other team has no chance to score.
Looking at purely defending is fundamentally flawed. It ignores the fact that Clendening is so much better than Girardi at moving the puck out of danger that he spends much less time in the defensive zone than Girardi does. All that extra time adds up to more scoring chances against Girardi, which means he's actually a worse defender, even if he is able to "defend" better than Clendening.
It's also why Girardi is one of the best penalty killers on the team. On the PK, the puck is pretty much pinned in your zone for much of the time. And, when you finally get the puck, you can just make the caveman play and ice it without the same penalty that applies at even strength.
Doesn't matter if he's that much better in his own end if the team is hemmed in that same end of the ice whenever he is on the ice. If you're spending more time there, the calculation of whether or not that defense is conducive to success becomes a net negative solution.
Clendening may not be flashy, or a shot blocking warrior, but when he can get the puck, it's moved quite quickly out of the zone, and as the post above me states, that's a form of defense--actually it's the best kind of defense, because it leads directly to offense.
Girardi's form of "defense" leads to playing MORE defense, more stress on the forwards, and less puck support to get out of the zone. Doesn't sound like much, but more time playing defense means more shots against, which means more tired forwards.
Anyways, Gorton's goal is most likely to move Girardi at 50% retained to avoid the buyout penalties. Can't do that if you're benching him constantly.
Which is unfortunately why Klein will be a casualty. Clendening NEEDS to play. If he's so defensively inefficient, put him up with McDonagh and let McDonagh do ALL of the defensive lifting
