For sure. But if you watch the whole first gif how the fuck does the guy who coughs up the puck get a pass? How about the d guy coasting in behind him to support that gets blown by and caught up in the neutral zone. Or the guys coasting to the bench for a line change when the other team has the puck heading into your zone.
I kinda think those are more important details than how Myers played that, which was to take everything away but the shot.
- Load Management
Of course the overall Canucks D system is hot garbage. Everyone would look better if that got fixed.
However, the conversation is about Myers defending what's unfolding in front of him – not who caused what to happen. Sure, the
team would be a lot better if they didn't have breakdowns that caused odd man rushes, or had a better system in place to cover better defensively. Sure, Myers isn't responsible for starting the play/breakdown. But this is about how Myers is as a defender (as you stated he was a good defender), and unfortunately for the team and himself when things break down he doesn't make the break downs better. As RC said, he's not aware and not sharp – he's very reactionary, which for 6 mil in a top 4 role is pretty terrible.
You said the two Canucks were "standing still" at the line, but (#26?) you can clearly see angling from the boards to the center of the ice to take away the pass, and whoever the other guy is maybe 1/2 step behind the Sabres player. Myers stays upright, gets his stick/body on Okposo, and either forces him to beat him or go wide and try to make that pass. Either of those plays is a lot less dangerous than walking in and taking a shot from the faceoff dot.