Vladys Gumption
Colt55
During the regular season, maybe, but in the playoffs, this does nothing for you. I'm going to tire some people out with this one but I'm going to keep repeating it until it sinks in: you need a clear top-4 of big-minute defensemen to lean on in the playoffs. Spreading the wealth and rolling three pairs might get you out of the first round against a weaker opponent, but, for the most part, you still need two pairs playing at least 45 minutes of the game. And it can't just be 30 minutes for your top pair and about fifteen each for the bottom 4 guys. You need to count on that second pair for 22+ minutes.
I completely agree with this. We've got three for sure in Pietrangelo, Bouwemeester, and Shattenkirk. Can we address the fourth from internal candidates, or do we need to look externally. That's a huge question to answer?
I wouldn't mind seeing Pietrangelo getting a bigger chunk of minutes, and it seems like Hitch has been leaning on him more. He's had multiple games this year at around 28 minutes. I could see us running Petro at around 26 to 28 minutes, Bouwmeester at 25 and Shattenkirk around 25. The question becomes, can Parayko become that fourth guy.