30 in 30 the bottom Defence
Talking about players who are less than interesting and don’t usually see significant ice time is difficult. Making the topic intriguing is even harder. The key part about great teams is that they usually have a consensus that their depth/role players are better than the general opposition. I won’t go though each team’s bottom pairing defensemen to compare let alone prove the point nonetheless the death players have an effect.
In the case of the Jets, the depth whether in forwards or defence has been a challenge to balance since they arrived from Atlanta. With the defence last season it underwent the ultimate test as bodies dropped faster than on the Walking Dead. What happened as this injury spell emerged were two things that worked in the Jets best interests. One, they discovered that Byfuglien is better as a defenseman and two, new players emerged to make the Jets a stronger team, ie. Ben Cha The defence pairings going into the next season are thought to be something like this
Enstrom Myers Byfuglien Trouba Stuart Chairot
Pardy Harrison Postma Clitsome MacWilliam Morrissey?
Those pairings are a guess and based around what Ken Wiebe from the Winnipeg Sun put out a few weeks ago. What can be said though is that nothing is certain and there is a lack of strength on the left side.
It would make sense that all but Chairot are locks to start unless injury happens but after that things get interesting as there is little down the left side that could upset the top two pairs. Pardy, Clitsome, Harrison and MacWilliam are all left shots as is Morrissey but are likely to upset the apple cart of the top four.
As Wiebe suggested it’s easy to see that the second pair of Trouba and Buff is two right shots while Stuart and Chairot is two left shots. The easiest solution is to slide Chairot up and Trouba down and have things as they were last season but is Trouba not ready for more than third pairing minutes?
The bottom pair is a concern because it creates an imbalance to keep the pairs as they are above. Many fans believe Paul Postma has not been given a fair shake at regular ice time, he’s also a right shot. The other question mark is Grant Clitsome a player who has been maligned with injuries since signing his last 3 year deal. He enters the final year as one of the bigest mysteries for the Jets defense. He would be a bottom pairing guy but enough to replace either Stuart and alternate captain or Chairot who is younger and cheaper?
What is clear is that the Jets have a significant amount depth for bottom pairing defence but it’s going to cost them. If Grant Clitsome stays healthy, and hopefully he does, can he be the 7the defenseman at 2 million a year? Postma wil have to clear waivers to be sent to the Moose and there’s no way he won’t get picked up and will the Jets pay Harrison to be in the minors?
The situation is curious and one easy answer is to trade Byfuglien for help in other areas but does that help the team to lose Buff and move Cltisome up?
Enstrom Myers Chairot Trouba Stuart Clitsome
Without Buff you see a significant drop in talent level on that defence core and really the issue is no longer the top 4. It’s holding the place for Stuart that seems to create a log jam towards change. That’s a problem that will only solve itself over time, in three years to be exact but in the near term it’s clear the Jets have more bottom defence than they need.
Insurance polices are good, and the Jets sure needed one last year but if they don’t have to make a claim this season when do they start managing all those players?