This is the second and last part of the article where I will review goalies and d men

GOALIES

I have always said that for the most part goalies is a crap shoot. Malcolm Subban was the top rated goalie in the expansion draft and even though Seattle had the first goalie selection I was able to get him. 

Seattle

Darcy Kuemper      28 year old NHL journeyman with 104 career games had 19 good games in the NHL last year and got traded to Arizona. Finished the year with a 3.22 GAA in the desert. 

David Ritttich         2.92 GAA in NHL last year. Toss up if him or Jon Gillies gets the back up job next year.

Alex Nedelijkovic     2.55 AHL GAA. Prospect in the Adin Hill / Eric Comrie level

Brad Thiessen        32 years old, enough about him

Washington

Malcolm Subban     top goalie in the expansion class. Got hurt and slumped near the end of the year. MAF signing a long term extension didnt help. Of course, MAF is as fragile as they come. 

Jon Gillies               24 year old goalie who had a 2.88 NHL GAA in limited action. Will  battle Rittich for the back up job.

Adin Hill                 Arizona's # 6 prospect, 2.28 GAA in the AHL, made his NHL debut

Eric Comrie             Winnipeg's # 6 prospect, 2.58 GAA in the AHL, made his NHL debut

Vitek Vanecek         once a mid level prsospect, regressed last year to a 3.04 GAA in the AHL from a 2.54 the previous year. Hoping it is more indicative of a bad team.

DEFENSE

Seattle        

P K Subban is by far the class of the expansion class. That being said how much money will Ryan have to retain on that $ 15 M dollar contract and who is willing to take it on for a second and last year. Dont forget the $ 14 M signing bonus. Will Ryan be able to retain serious dollars on both Carter and Subban to obtain top dollar. 

Zac Bogosian    appears to be Seattle's 2nd best d man, seriously. Played 18 games last year. Hasn't had a season since he played in Atlanta where he played more than 65 games in a year. Yes younger Cordell,  Atlanta once had an NHL team.

Matt Grzelcyk    a 509 176 pound smurf who played 61 NHL games last year. Has a 61 def rating.

Jake Dotchin     like his style, tried to sign him in RFA. Was benched for most of the last two months of the season, three games in March, none in April and no playoff appearances.

Nathan Beaulieu   ugh  66 def rating, double ugh

Nic Seeler         22 NHL games, jury is out

Victor Antipin    also in a far away land called Russia. Played so bad in Buffalo they did not offer him a qualifying offer.

If you are looking for another NHL d man that is it.

Minors

Kyle Wood               has he learned how to skate yet, big drop in stats from the previous year

Mirco Mueller           a bust out west, traded to the Devils and got hurt. Trying to find his way

Ludwig Bystrom       a lesser version of Mueller trying to find his way.

Anthony DeAngelo   at age 22 already on his 3rd NHL team, that should tell you something. One of the last Ranger minor league d men to get recalled last year and got hurt in his first game. 

Gustav Olofsson      41 NHL games, no goals, 70 def rating

Washington

Radko Gudas          85 def rating, went 16 games without a penalty after being suspended. Will welcome all visiting teams to Washington.

Scott Mayfield         83 def rating which makes him higher rated than the other 6 Seattle d men. This will be his age 25 season.

Jordan Oesterle       5 goals in 51 games, 71 def rating, also better than the rest of the Seattle d men.

Christian Djoos       As a 22 year old  3rd pair d man for the Stanley Cup winners. 3 goals in 63 games, 63 def. Played in 22 playoff games, trending upwaard. 

John Gilmour           pure skater, protected by the Rangers in a late season audition, hence a 63 def rating. 3 goals in 23 games. 

Devon Toews           Islanders # 3 prospect. 8 goals in 30 AHL games and was on the cusp of a call up when suffered a season ending injury. 

Kurtis MacDermid     As a 23 year old played in 34 NHL games. 

Minors

As we all know defensemen take a lot longer to develop. In the late rounds I drafted guys to put this theory to the test. 

Tyler Lewington       received him instead of a late draft pick to skip a player in the expansion draft. Played 1st pair d man and killed penalties in the AHL 

Luc Snuggerud         Chicago's # 10 prospect in the 2017 Hockey News. In 40 AHL games scored 5 goals. 

Joe Hicketts             smaller guy, had some helium as a prospect but has to take the next step

Nelson Nogier          injured last year. 

Andreas Englund    drafted in the 2nd round in 2014, has seen minimal NHL time. Ottawa's # 6 prospect in 2017

Jack Daugherty        also drafted in the 2nd round in 2014, Nashville's # 6 prospect in 2017

Josh Jacobs              also drafted in the 2nd round in 2014

CONCLUSION

While Ryan has the better d man it is not even close who has the better depth, both now and long term on defense. Another consideration is the long term financial health of both organizations.  I have $18 M in the bank and a salary cap of $ 27 M. Seattle has no money in the bank and a salary cap of $45 M. Sure he has a lot of draft picks but how many of them will he honestly hit on and how long will they take to develop. I made a conscious decision to load up on 21 and 22 years olds and while there will be some misses I am hopeful that some will develop into viable NHL players. I honestly would not trade my team for Rex's now. 

I feel the "experts" are focusing to much on the two splashy signings and a bunch of late draft picks and not looking at the entier picture

Fire away