Going back over the last year or two, the Coyotes could look at their defense and say that it was a team strength. OEL was and is an elite defenseman, Yandle had possibly declined slightly from his halcyon days as the league's best offensive back-end option after Erik Karlsson, but he still has top-pairing stats and is probably underrated because some fans just see the defensive lapses.
Then they had Michalek who, for a guy who provides such little offense (he hasn't hit 20 points since 2008) is pretty solid contributor, from a stats-perspective, as well as a trio of young promising defensemen in Murphy, Stone and Gormley.
For depth they had David Rundblad (went to the Hawks and had a CF of 56%, better possession and better per/60 numbers than Brent Seabrook) David Schlemko (his hero chart is crazy, check it out at http://ownthepuck.blogspot.ca/)
Unfortunately, the Coyotes had to get rid of Yandle and Michalek because of contract/age/rebuilding issues, but the returns were good and nobody is complaining they were traded.
OEL has remained OEL, and Stone has developed nicely, but Murphy hasn't really excelled and Gormley is being all but written off (Which is ridiculous because he was trying to break in on a Dave Tippett team while that team was already playing three somewhat offensive defenseman in their early twenties and when he did get a chance, he badly sprained his ankle and did not look good upon his return. This is no reason to write off a high draft pick with lots of talent).
The team brought in John Moore, overestimated it's depth and let him go for nothing. They brought in Klaus Dahlbeck who seemed OK (hard to tell when you're on a post-deadline team that does not resemble a real NHL team). The trded for Grossman and brought back Michalek, who I like as a fan, but who isn't going to prevent the team from finishing close to the bottom of the league and who's leadership and character has to be measured against the fact that he could potentially clog up the lineup and prevents a young player from getting minutes on what is already a losing season. (Though at present I don't think he's blocking any right-side defenders).
So that leaves the team with this:
OEL 23 years-old shoots Left
Murphy 21 Right
Stone 25 Right
Dahlbeck 24 Left
Michalak 32 Right
Gormley 23 Left
Grossman 30 Left
OEL can play on the top-pairing with Stone.
Craig Morgan, of Fox Sports, said in his column today that he sees Grossmann as the second pairing guy on the left, which means that Gormley would be competing with Dahlbeck for the left side on the third pairing.
To me this is ridiculous to the point of being a fireable offense, if this is indeed the Coyotes plan this year. We're writing Grossmann in as the SECOND PAIRING Dman?
That's a bad possession player with limited offense. He's slow and definitely not a top six defenseman on a Playoff team.
But, if what Morgan says holds true what we'd be seeing is this:
OEL - Stone
Grossmann - Murphy
Dahlbeck/Gormley - Michalek
And what was a position of strength just a year or so ago, is now a very ugly defense and actually maybe a weakness. Gone are the useful and underrated Schlemko and Runblad and Summers and Moore and any depth the team had. Gone are Yandle and it must be noted that Michalek is declining.
OEL is a superior top-pairing Dman, but I think a Playoff team would have a legit top pairing guy with him instead (Franson!!!) and have Stone on the second pairing.
Considering the team is attempting to rebuild, I'd have no problem ceding automatic roster spots to Gormley, Murphy and Dahlbeck. This would give them the opportunity to find out, while they rebuild/wait for their prospect forwards to get good, if they are keepers.
As the Coyotes are currently set up, they have OEL and Stone as their only legit NHL above-average defenders (a #1 and a #3).
It seems clear to me that what was once a strength is now dangerously close to being a weakness, though with a strong season from Murphy and Gormley and a reversal on the recent spat of regressive, short-sighted moves, it need not be.
In order to get this right, here's a check-list the Coyotes can follow to get their D back to being a strength:
1. Sign Cody Franson
2. Cut Grossmann from the team.
3. Since they already signed Michalek and have Stone and still don't have the top pairing guy for the right side, they'll have to trade Connor Murphy.
4. Use prospect capital to trade for a Dman for the left side who's better than Dahlbeck. Preferably someone who is big, physical and adept defensively, but who also moves the puck. This guy can be a raw prospect, it doesn't matter.
5. Give Gormley a regular NHL shift.
OEL - ____
____ - Stone
Gormley - Michalek
Provided the two additions are solid players, the Coyotes will then be set to compete, at least from the perspective of the defense.
The thing is, they almost HAVE to make trades for those two dmen they need because by the time they draft another OEL-style defenseman and develop him, OEL will have wasted his prime.
I like what the Coyotes have in Domi, Strome, Duclair, Dvorak, Merkley and Perlini, but maybe a couple of those guys and some future picks have to go in order to get this defense in the kind of shape it needs to be in to compete.
Because I guarantee you this: If the Coyotes second pairing this season is Grossman-Murphy they are going to get slaughtered. Not only does this waste a year of OEL's prime, but being stuck with Grossman will probably do terrible damage to Murphy's game, confidence and future.
Thanks for reading.
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