The Wings game was far better than the previous one - the Wings looked dangerous throughout and probably deserved the W. Probably.
Fogghorn wrote:
Although I still can't forgive Benning for the Gudbranson trade, he seems to be especially good at figuring out 18 years old with potential and drafts really well and very poor at assessing more developed players. Which is weird as it should be the opposite. And his contract management and salary management still sucks.
After seeing Gudbranson for a few games now, I can see why he's such an analytics pariah - he makes me miss Sbisa. There was a good article on him called the Sunk Cost Fallacy, which I agree with - basically, it posits that for Gudbranson, the strategy should be TRADE > WALK AWAY > RE-SIGN. Ideally, trade him for something, if Benning can't do that, then just walk away, with the worst case scenario being to re-sign him. Juolevi
is starting to heat up, so keeping some options open of D next season would be a good idea.
I've been pleased with how Biega has played (even though last night and the Wings game were not his best), but it looks like he'd be ok for 1 or 2 games at most; Edler is due back so I think that means Biega will return to the press box. Pouliot has been a nice surprise and seems to be doing well in Green's system - Gudbranson hasn't shown to be a good skater or good-decision maker or passer or puck-handler so perhaps his skillset is best-suited to a WD-style game. MDZ looks ok. Been impressed of course with Tanev and Hutton, but Tanev makes everyone he plays alongside look better.
Hutton / Tanev
Edler / MDZ
Gudbranson / Pouliot
Stecher should be back soon, too, I hope. If Benning can unload Gudbranson (FL perhaps?), and Stecher comes back, I'd like to see:
Hutton / Tanev
Edler / Pouliot
MDZ / Stecher
(Biega>Weircioch>Mceneny>etc....)
I think Green's system really cries out for good puck-moving defensemen that can jump up. It won't be the biggest, most physically-imposing group but given Benning's recent history with big lumbering defensemen (trading Pedan, letting Tryamkin walk), maybe he realizes that's not his team overall is suited for. These 15 or so games seems to be bearing that out.
Now, about that PP...