Tryamkin still won’t retrieve pucks and handle forechecking duress well given his puck skills and footwork, meaning he’s very likely to struggle handling and transporting the puck. System effects could be influencing his neutral zone defence results – which is why I didn’t dissect that aspect too critically – but I didn’t see him playing a tight enough gap to force oncoming attackers into dump-ins enough. I like the way he uses his size and strength in 1-on-1 situations where he can use the boards as leverage and his reach is a very useful asset, but poor reads hold him back positionally in his own zone.
All in all, Tryamkin is held back by his puck skills, sluggish footwork and decision-making in all three zones. He’s just not quick enough with his hands, feet and brain to be a top-four NHL defenceman.
Could he a No. 6 or No. 7 defenceman? Sure, that’s what he was three seasons ago when he was with the team. I could see him providing similar value to Jordie Benn and Oscar Fantenberg and I can see why a smaller rink might actually help him defend more aggressively. But it’s also possible based on these viewings that he’s not an NHL calibre defenceman and consistently performs below replacement level.
Either way, my opinion is that there’s a low probability of Tryamkin being a non-negligible upgrade on Benn and Fantenberg. There was once a time when you could have realistically hoped for much more, but given that he turns 26-years-old in August, odds are that he won’t take the steps necessary to be a true impact player. This isn’t to say he’s not worth signing at all, but if the price tag creeps up in the $2.5 million per year range, for example, that’s a risk that a cap crunched team like Vancouver should not be willing to take.
