I was going to come in here today and go on a rant about Roy and his decision making when it came to the defense. I was going to make the point that most teams when they are having injury issues or competency issues in a specific area call upon their young guns in the AHL to step up, not go get waiver wire fodder and hope that they can become 1st pairing guys, or force square pegs (Guenin, Redmond) into round holes. Most teams make decisions to help the team and sometimes that involves letting your young guys come in and do their job. Especially when they are clearly ready for a specific role and are much better than what you've been rolling with. There is no way, on any planet, that you could convince me that Bodnarchuk, Guenin, or Redmond would be a better solution than Zadorov or Bigras or Siemens or Noreau and list could probably go on.
Roy and Sakic were clearly trying to force something that just wouldn't fit. They've finally realized this by making this move today. Thank goodness this move is coming now and not a month from now when we could be completely out of it.
Am I saying that I think Zadorov and Bigras are going to be the saviors of the team. No way. Are they going to have some young guy growing pains, for sure. But if they can come in a play a game that is somewhat similar to what they've shown down in San Antonio, then it could go a long way to helping stabilize a really weak defense.
Now it's on Roy to make sure that these guys get plenty of opportunity to showcase what they can bring to the table. Meaning don't bench them or send them back, just accept that it's not going to be perfect day one and roll with the punches. It's also on Roy to make sure that they get plenty of on ice opportunity as well. Give them partners that can hide some of the young guy stuff. My suggestions would be split up Beauchemin and EJ (when he is healthy) and partner one with Zadorov and one with Bigras. This would go a long way to help them adjust to the NHL level.
