There is no question Rielly is our best d man and was our best d man in the playoff series against Washington. This makes sense as we gave them a tough battle. If Gardiner was our best d man in the series, we might have gotten swept. Since it was Rielly, we had a close series. Plus If Gardiner truly is this awesome #1 d man, then he should have been able to play with Zaitsev, but couldnt so he is our 2nd best d man.
You do realize you're wrong about the facts of the playoff series right?
- Gardiner/Zaitsev was the top-pair in the last 15-20 games of the season and in the playoffs (Faced the top comp).
- He did carry Zaitsev, they did extremely well and were the best pairing in the series easily.
Rielly is 100% better than Gardiner this season, but the end of last year + playoffs it was Gardiner 100%.
Right now, I have our D as:
Rielly (low/mid-tier #1D, stabilized):
Gardiner(mid-tier #2D, continues to rise)
Hainsey (High-tier #3D, has fell of a bit)
Dermott(Low-tier #3D, continues to rise)
Zaitsev (Confused)
Carrick (High-tier #5D)