- Oct 24, 2008
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I don’t think it’s realistic of us to believe Erik Johnson will be on the 3rd pairing or play the 5th/6th most minutes at any point this season.
Let’s be honest.
We might have our opinion of him right now, but he has averaged over 22 minutes this season... the most of any D... and Bednar will lean on him.
With Zadorov’s recent emergence, the acquisition of a top 4 D becomes less likely. Bednar has been praising him, and he would need top 4 minutes to pair up against the other team’s best line, too.
ATOI this season...
Johnson - 22:12
Girard - 21:41
Makar - 20:10
Zadorov - 19:16 (up significantly last 2-3 weeks)
Cole - 17:42
Graves - 16:49
Barberio - 15:38
Rosen - 14:19
Like it or not, your pairs are right there. Yeah, Girard-EJ doesn’t work and Makar should be away from Zads if Zads is against the 1st line of other teams... but there it is.
Girard - Johnson
Zadorov - Makar
Graves - Cole
Barberio/Rosen
As stated, our evaluation of EJ being so far off from Bednar’s and the development of Zadorov makes the potential acquisition of a top 4 D pretty unlikely.
Just my observation.
Let’s be honest.
We might have our opinion of him right now, but he has averaged over 22 minutes this season... the most of any D... and Bednar will lean on him.
With Zadorov’s recent emergence, the acquisition of a top 4 D becomes less likely. Bednar has been praising him, and he would need top 4 minutes to pair up against the other team’s best line, too.
ATOI this season...
Johnson - 22:12
Girard - 21:41
Makar - 20:10
Zadorov - 19:16 (up significantly last 2-3 weeks)
Cole - 17:42
Graves - 16:49
Barberio - 15:38
Rosen - 14:19
Like it or not, your pairs are right there. Yeah, Girard-EJ doesn’t work and Makar should be away from Zads if Zads is against the 1st line of other teams... but there it is.
Girard - Johnson
Zadorov - Makar
Graves - Cole
Barberio/Rosen
As stated, our evaluation of EJ being so far off from Bednar’s and the development of Zadorov makes the potential acquisition of a top 4 D pretty unlikely.
Just my observation.