My money is on Klef, he is just much strong, better skater. Well Marincin is a very smart player, I don't see him having the speed of strength to become a really good top 4 D man. Klef has all the tools and he seems to have the capicity to think the game well enough.
I think this is fair. Klefbom has better core skills than Marincin already, and a better physique.
The issue is that Marincin just knows the game better. He reads the play better. He has a better ability to use what he has effectively. In the NHL that is the #1 quality a player needs to be successful. It's what separates the decent Dmen from the elite ones.
Barker is the classic example of a Dman with amazing core skills and physical attributes, but no ability to coordinate them within a team environment. Klefbom is already better than Barker was in terms of hockey IQ, but that's the principle here. It's why I feel Marincin is better than Klefbom for the NHL at this time.
MacT is banking that Klefbom can connect the dots very quickly and find his groove in the NHL. It's a risk that can pay off because if Klefbom can play like Marincin and do all the little things well, then he will be better than Marincin. At any rate, maybe it's best to find out if Klefbom has that ability sooner rather than later, because if he trends like Barker then we can cut our ties from him before the team suffers too much.
I like Klefbom and so I would like to see what he can do, but I thought that the team needs the steady, smarter player right now since the lineup has changed so much, so quickly.
