Sensible Commentary
Joined: Jul. 2016
Posts: 910
Likes: 536
The Kings definitely needed to get someone off their roster for Jordan Spence; it did seem to me like he had proven his worth in Ontario and needed a roster spot. Curious that they moved on from Durzi instead of Matt Roy, but I would assume Bill Armstrong wasn't as interested in someone like Roy on the roster; Durzi fits more with the current timeline for the Coyotes' roster as opposed to Roy and was likely a more appealing asset to him.
I think Durzi should be looking forward to the opportunity to try and make a case for 1st-pairing mins on the Coyotes' roster; he seems to have the offense necessary for that kind of role but would never have displaced Drew Doughty on the Kings' roster. As it stands, there's really nobody on the existing roster that would likely challenge Durzi for that spot; Josh Brown is a 3rd-pair guy, and Victor Söderström hasn't grabbed that role by the horns yet (though he's only 22, and defenders take longer to develop). I doubt Juuso Välimäki wants to play on his off-side all that much, either (it makes the waiver claim look all that much sillier for the Flames, tbh, though that entire situation is a mess, as we've all discovered). I feel like you can probably teach defensive responsibility to a defender more easily than you can teach them offensive capabilities, though, and I think J. J. Moser should be capable of covering for any weird brain farts that Durzi makes on the ice defensively.