Rundblad is going to be one of those soft defensemen that puts up points. I don't think winning teams would ice him outside of a depth role. Its a shame because his offensive prowess from the blueline and powerplay is fun to watch.
But he's about as tough as a Benoit Pouliot, and for a guy that plays a position where he needs to take a hit to make a play, David Rundblad will shy away. There's a reason why two teams moved him before giving him really long looks.
Always been guys like this in the game. Andy Delmore... Marc Andre Bergeron...
I am not saying that you are wrong, but you are mentioning examples of D's that definitely never has put up any real pts. Delmore is 36 y/o and have 101 pts in almost 300 NHL games. MAB has scored a little more, but still only 235 pts in just under 500 NHL games. And MAB is like 5'10 and can't skate, Rundblad is 6'2.5 and actually a really good hitter. He got a lethal hip-check.
Rundblad has -- potential -- to put up pts for real. Undoubtedly. He could turn out to be Andy Delmore II, making the move I suggested a bad one for sure, he could turn out to be Marek Zidlicky II (which I think is far more likely), which makes it a good deal for us for sure, MZ BTW has been a top D for a team that made the finals, he could turn out to be Poti II, due to the MSG crowd turning on him, but I think Rundblad is more clutch than that, or he could turn out to become like Lubomir Visnovsky/Kimmo Timmonen II. You know, its anyone's guess right now.
But it is definitely not hard to find examples of teams playing in the SCF's with one-way offensive minded D's. Its more likely that you will find a guy with Rundblad's defensive ability on one of the SCF teams than not. The thing is that you need whatever D you have that is sub-par defensively to be -- good -- offensively. Rundblad makes no sense if he in his prime scores 35-40 pts. He should score 60+. And that is definitely not impossible for him. I wouldn't at all be suprised to see him pot top 3-5 numbers in the NHL either. You know, or he could fall short.