Is this supposed to be the premise that a good offense makes for a good defense because the players are so good offensively that they keep the puck in the other end all the time?
I think that premise has been debunked. Unless I am just completely not understanding the statement.
That poster is oversimplifying it but there's some truth to it. It's more complex than he/she is making it out to be but the biggest overlooked thing is transition ability. A guy who is 'average~ish' defensively but has a great transition game (
Tyson Barrie) will give up fewer chances than someone who is above-average defensively, with a bad transition game (
Esa Lindell), as one example of this.
Also, as
@ZuccsFluffierFluffer said, sniffing out plays before they really happen.
Erik Karlsson was/is the king at stepping up at the offensive blue line and the red lines to really nullify play the other way before it could get started. He's a guy who has a reputation as being 'bad' defensively by casual fans and will get exposed from time to time in his own zone but he's still really good without the puck.
This contract is Staal's last big payday--fact is he might not get another contract at all. That could be happening to Dan Girardi right now. They have young families--so expecting them to walk away from their contracts is kind of ridiculous. Loyalty to the employer cuts two ways anyway--the loyalty needs to come back too (though it doesn't always) and in this case it's kind of for services previously rendered--which include concussions and a very damage eye.
That said I can see Staal thinking--'well the penalty kill was good tonight' or 'we kept their top line from scoring more than a goal' and sometimes the team wins and like it or not he's part of that. So how he analyzes himself--how the coaching staff analyze him can be a very different animal from how most fans might analyze him. They might at least see some positives now and again where the fans see only negatives.
I'm pretty sure he's with us again this year. I have been for buying him out in the past--don't see it happening this year--maybe next though--the cap penalty won't be so bad with only one year left and it gives some of the young LD a year they might need to develop.
They're both PTO fodder at this point, still feels like yesterday when they comprised a top pair on this team.
