Edited Jan. 24, 2022 at 8:48 a.m.
Quoting: Wadejos123
I would love to hear your take on how Gus > CDH. Your opinion is one that I respect on this site so i'm just curius. I like Gus more than most of our fans but Dehaan has probably been our best dman the past month
Well first of all thank you for the kind words.
As to the discussion though. There's a lot that goes into this as they are very different players. If your talking about a purely defensive Dman then yes DeHaan is the guy, but I've been impressed with the steps Gus has taken this year. I'd 100% sign him again next year...after another TDL trade to get assets.
A.) DeHaan certainly has played against harder competition, but he's also played with Seth Jones. While it's a good thing to play against harder competition...being with Jones put into question whether or not it's DeHaan himself. Gus's leading Dpair is Riley Stillman. I think they pair well together, but Stillman isn't Seth Jones.
B.) I do think DeHaan is a better defensive Dman, but last night's Foligno goal is something I notice about DeHaan (he's not at all the only Hawks dman that does this). DeHaan got caught puck watching and didn't try to feel for the pressure. DeHaan drifted in front of MAF and thought that was sufficient, but he needed to feel out for his true assignment. His assignment isn't just for an area, but the opponents entering that area. He let up that goal. Yes, that's just one example and Gus has those too, BUT I'd say that Gus of years ago's defense is not who he is today. I think he does a better job this year. I'm not a huge fan of +/-, but sometimes I'll take a peak. He's actually a +2 (so NO PP points) on a team that's a minus 35.
C.) I don't know if you read Theo Fox on hockeybuzz, but he does a nice write up IMO. Gus is able to carry the mail and find how to progress the puck forward. That's something he talks about alot when discussing the progression of our D prospects/NHL hopefuls. OR just finding guys for an outlet pass. Kubalik's goal against Seattle for example. I'm not sure you'd argue with me that Gus is better offensively.
D.) I'm not even sure this counts in a comp, but $800k cap hit vs $4.55M is a big difference in "Value". I understand DeHaan can be retained, but depending on how things go...the Hawks only have two of those left before they need AZ to jump in.