mfitz804 Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 I felt the same. Adam plus a pick should’ve been enough, but as the other piece was Blandisi, I’m ok with it. Guy played 5 minutes in the NHL and was (correctly) labeled a diver. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 He’s been great. Playing huge minutes, and is hands down the best defenseman on the team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, Nicomo said: He’s been great. Playing huge minutes, and is hands down the best defenseman on the team. And the gap between #1 and #2 has been huge. I’m not even sure who our second best defenseman has been, it might be Ben fvcking Lovejoy!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven M. Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 1 minute ago, mfitz804 said: And the gap between #1 and #2 has been huge. I’m not even sure who our second best defenseman has been, it might be Ben fvcking Lovejoy!! Felt like Severson was getting there but in the past few weeks he has fallen off. I think it might be Lovejoy as well, the PK has been great and he's been a part of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muevelos Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Need a Carlson or EK on the top next to Vat, then we have a true number one pairing. We all seemed for the most part to be ripping Ben last year but this year, he's been really consistent and deserves to be starting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 I had my doubts early (especially given Shero's other defensemen acquisitions haven't been that great) but Vat's been the man in every aspect recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redruM Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 I loved the trade then & still Do, Vat has been very good lately. I'll be honest, my faith in Butche is gone, he is not good defensively, he is not a good skater and often his passes are too predicable. If it was up to me he would sit & Mueller would play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 9 minutes ago, redruM said: I loved the trade then & still Do, Vat has been very good lately. I'll be honest, my faith in Butche is gone, he is not good defensively, he is not a good skater and often his passes are too predicable. If it was up to me he would sit & Mueller would play. You'd sit the rookie with 30+ assists? Not me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 9 minutes ago, redruM said: I loved the trade then & still Do, Vat has been very good lately. I'll be honest, my faith in Butche is gone, he is not good defensively, he is not a good skater and often his passes are too predicable. If it was up to me he would sit & Mueller would play. And yet he’s 2nd on the team in assists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Butcher has been getting weaker in his own end as the season has gone on. He still produces offensively here and there, but defense he is getting hammered some games. I will chalk that up to rookie issues. As for Vats, I love what he has done for this team. Not sure if this was posted here, but he other night they showed how Vats played 10 minutes more than any other defenseman in a recent game and typically against the other team's best. The fact that he is doing that, holding his own and pitching in the most points outside of Hall and Palms shows how important he is to the team. He is quite frankly the best defenseman we have had since Rafalski. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derlique Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 1 minute ago, DevsMan84 said: Butcher has been getting weaker in his own end as the season has gone on. He still produces offensively here and there, but defense he is getting hammered some games. I will chalk that up to rookie issues. As for Vats, I love what he has done for this team. Not sure if this was posted here, but he other night they showed how Vats played 10 minutes more than any other defenseman in a recent game and typically against the other team's best. The fact that he is doing that, holding his own and pitching in the most points outside of Hall and Palms shows how important he is to the team. He is quite frankly the best defenseman we have had since Rafalski. Heh, I've actually been more impressed with him lately. It is important to note he has been dragging Lovejoy around for awhile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 5 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said: Butcher has been getting weaker in his own end as the season has gone on. He still produces offensively here and there, but defense he is getting hammered some games. I will chalk that up to rookie issues. As for Vats, I love what he has done for this team. Not sure if this was posted here, but he other night they showed how Vats played 10 minutes more than any other defenseman in a recent game and typically against the other team's best. The fact that he is doing that, holding his own and pitching in the most points outside of Hall and Palms shows how important he is to the team. He is quite frankly the best defenseman we have had since Rafalski. Yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 16 minutes ago, DevsMan84 said: Butcher has been getting weaker in his own end as the season has gone on. He still produces offensively here and there, but defense he is getting hammered some games. I will chalk that up to rookie issues. As for Vats, I love what he has done for this team. Not sure if this was posted here, but he other night they showed how Vats played 10 minutes more than any other defenseman in a recent game and typically against the other team's best. The fact that he is doing that, holding his own and pitching in the most points outside of Hall and Palms shows how important he is to the team. He is quite frankly the best defenseman we have had since Rafalski. Probably the Unsung Hero this season. One of those guys that just has a way of getting overlooked, or noticed for the wrong things. But he's really settled in nicely...and is under team control for another two seasons beyond this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redruM Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 41 minutes ago, Nicomo said: And yet he’s 2nd on the team in assists. Yes, but over the last month he has 5 assists, and that includes 4 this week ( 2 against a terrible Montreal team). that means 1 assist the previous 3 weeks!! his offense has not been great over the last month and his "D" has never been good, would it kill anyone to sit him for a few games? Are you telling me this ROOKIE is too good to sit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 25 minutes ago, redruM said: Yes, but over the last month he has 5 assists, and that includes 4 this week ( 2 against a terrible Montreal team). that means 1 assist the previous 3 weeks!! his offense has not been great over the last month and his "D" has never been good, would it kill anyone to sit him for a few games? Are you telling me this ROOKIE is too good to sit? No, I wouldn’t sit him for Mueller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfitz804 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 (edited) 56 minutes ago, redruM said: Yes, but over the last month he has 5 assists, and that includes 4 this week ( 2 against a terrible Montreal team). that means 1 assist the previous 3 weeks!! his offense has not been great over the last month and his "D" has never been good, would it kill anyone to sit him for a few games? Are you telling me this ROOKIE is too good to sit? I am definitely telling you that when the alternative is Mueller. To elaborate, he's also basically at a rookie level (74 games played in his career) and he has a whopping 8 points. Butcher has 34 points in 68 games. Butcher is probably less good defensively, but not by that much. And, you're looking at his point production when the team hadn't been scoring pretty much as a whole except for Hall, so looking at only a 4 week period is unfair. Although, even if you do that, Butcher had 5 assists in a month, Mueller has 6 in 74 games. 1 hour ago, DevsMan84 said: He is quite frankly the best defenseman we have had since Rafalski. I hadn't thought about it, but having thought about it, this is spot on. Edited March 12, 2018 by mfitz804 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devs3cups Posted March 13, 2018 Share Posted March 13, 2018 (edited) 22 hours ago, DevsMan84 said: He is quite frankly the best defenseman we have had since Rafalski. Oh without a doubt. I was thinking about this the other day. Your comparison is spot on. And there is no doubt in my mind Shero wants to keep him after the 2 years. He talked about the move as a ''future'' move when talking to the media if I remember correctly, so I think Shero is planning on keeping him around long-term, as he's only 26. If he keeps playing like that, it'll be an easy decision to make for management. We're gonna have a sh!tload of cap space in 2 years (as we already do and have a lot of dead weight coming off in Clowe, Greene, etc.) with Hall, Hischier, Bratt and Vats to re-sign. Should be a fun summer. Edited March 13, 2018 by Devs3cups Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDevs4978 Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 I love Rafalski and I see the comparison as players but as far as best defenseman in recent vintage I think peak Andy Greene was pretty darn good too. You wouldn't know it by the rotting version that's on the ice this year but he had some real solid two-way seasons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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