yeah im really just spitballing and thinking more along the lines of 2, 3 or 4 defensemen going down with injuries at the same time.

last year when he played, sometimes he got the 2nd or 3rd most minutes, and other times he was used more as a 5/6 man. I think Stuart is ready to be considered a top 4 guy, at least if he plays the way he did in the playoffs. but i think julien and chiarelli are more likely to put hunwick in that role, either way it will be some good competition between the 2. that makes ward or ference expendable, preferably ward despite ference’s injury history. boychuk can be the 6th man instead of the 7th, and you save a mil on the cap that way. but the problem comes when you have to replace the inevitable injury or 2. guys like penner, bodnarchuk, mcquaid, or even this button kid who got a lot of press during development camp, are they able to step up and fill in for some short term injuries? long term?
the buyouts hurt the cap real bad and chiarellis ability to bring in a depth defenseman and/or resign kessel. another hnidy type of player to push boychuk and replace injuries is fine by me, no need to go out and try to fit a true #2 dman under the cap. in my opinion chia will risk too much by giving away too much offense. right now they have some pretty good balance between offense and defense, especially with juliens system. if they want more puck movers trade ward, not kessel, for one who won’t cost much.