I think his decision making is way better than when he broke in. He doesn't play like a riverboat gambler and he doesn't end up standing by himself in random spots around the net.
He's still easily pushed around, worthless in front of the net, and non-existent in the corners. His gaps are okay and he is maybe average one-on-one?
He gets generally easy defensive assignments to start and if he plays a whole shift against easier forwards it's fine. If he ends up out there against larger, stronger players it gets really dicey.
Of course because of his skating and passing, he excels at controlled exits. Which is an important thing. I don't know what the metrics say about all of this, what I've said is just my general observation of him as a player.
His overall defensive game is lacking, and I don't think that's ever really going to change. He'll be 25 next season with over 200 NHL games played, so it is what it is. Substantial improvement is unlikely at that stage.
The offense is great. The edge he plays with is great. That he is by all accounts a popular teammate, is also great. So you take the good with the bad. He's a net positive by a good margin. But I can't pretend like he's anything more than below average defensively.
