number17
Mod Squad
When the Bruins cruised to a 4-0 rout over the Leafs, one glaring play where Kessel was beat cleanly by Krejci and Phaneuf, in essentially a 2 on 1 scenario, allowed Kirecji free path to the net (and eventually scored) brought a lot of criticisms on Dion's defensive ability as the team's #1 dman. This brings an interesting discussion - What IS Dion Phaneuf, what is his strength, what is his weakness, and is Carlyle using him appropriately?
A good analysis has been done by MLHS here and concluded Dion's always been a subpar defensive defenseman and Carlyle's decision to make him the defensive-go-to guy is the biggest reason for Toronto's big GAA.
The board's had numerous discussions on Dion but what is clear has been ...
- Carlyle's made Dion his #1 defensive (and also offensive) defenseman
- Carlyle's relied on Dion for all key situation, including 5v5, PK, close games, dying minutes
- Carlyle's given Dion the toughest defensive assignment, tougher than most dman in the league
- Dion's corsi #, despite poor compared to the rest of the league, constantly leads the team when considered the quality of opponents he had to face
- Toronto's had some major, major breakdown in key minutes of the game, nothing more vivid than the game 7 breakdown vs. the Bruins, and Dion was on the ice for a lot of the key goals in that game
- Carlyle, for all his faults, have no choice but to lean heavily on #3, given that his 2nd best best defenseman has been Gunnarson with a bad hip, a 37 year old Robidas who looks like he may be able to handle 2nd unit duty when he finally get his timing back, or extremely young and inconsistent youngsters like Gardiner and Rielly. Whether Carlyle realizes or not realize Dion's limitation, he has no choice.
- Carlyle's system does not help any player defensively, even if you were Chara or Doughty.
But it does seem like what this team really needs is a defensive anchor to partner with Dion to ease his defensive responsibility, so that he can go back to being an offensive defenseman who also happen to be a workhorse capable of heavy minutes, and NOT having to be that defensive go-to guy.
Unfortunately, in another attempt to help Toronto's blueline, the Robidas experiment has not looked good and Toronto's best defensive defenseman is Polak, who is good, but is limited. I don't see Polak as a top unit guy at all, but he can be a very competent 2nd unit guy (which is more than Gunnarson with a bad hip can do)
A good analysis has been done by MLHS here and concluded Dion's always been a subpar defensive defenseman and Carlyle's decision to make him the defensive-go-to guy is the biggest reason for Toronto's big GAA.
The board's had numerous discussions on Dion but what is clear has been ...
- Carlyle's made Dion his #1 defensive (and also offensive) defenseman
- Carlyle's relied on Dion for all key situation, including 5v5, PK, close games, dying minutes
- Carlyle's given Dion the toughest defensive assignment, tougher than most dman in the league
- Dion's corsi #, despite poor compared to the rest of the league, constantly leads the team when considered the quality of opponents he had to face
- Toronto's had some major, major breakdown in key minutes of the game, nothing more vivid than the game 7 breakdown vs. the Bruins, and Dion was on the ice for a lot of the key goals in that game
- Carlyle, for all his faults, have no choice but to lean heavily on #3, given that his 2nd best best defenseman has been Gunnarson with a bad hip, a 37 year old Robidas who looks like he may be able to handle 2nd unit duty when he finally get his timing back, or extremely young and inconsistent youngsters like Gardiner and Rielly. Whether Carlyle realizes or not realize Dion's limitation, he has no choice.
- Carlyle's system does not help any player defensively, even if you were Chara or Doughty.
But it does seem like what this team really needs is a defensive anchor to partner with Dion to ease his defensive responsibility, so that he can go back to being an offensive defenseman who also happen to be a workhorse capable of heavy minutes, and NOT having to be that defensive go-to guy.
Unfortunately, in another attempt to help Toronto's blueline, the Robidas experiment has not looked good and Toronto's best defensive defenseman is Polak, who is good, but is limited. I don't see Polak as a top unit guy at all, but he can be a very competent 2nd unit guy (which is more than Gunnarson with a bad hip can do)
