I would not be surprised if 5-10+ teams put a claim on JBD. Chicago definitely should be one of them.

I was rooting for them to take Lassi. They shouldn't pass on JBD this time

We don't really know if the Hawk "passed" on Thomson. Anaheim was ahead of Hawks in waiver claim order. But yeah, Hawks should definitely put in a claim on JBD. Sokolov too if rules allow it.

Here's something I wrote on JBD today :

However, like many, you are underrating JBD. He's actually on the development curve of becoming a Matthew Benning, "at his best when he does not try to do too much and he limits his mistakes, since he is not especially strong in any one area"

These guys are not flashy, it looks like they are not that good because you don't notice them but they are the type of D-men who keep it simple and end up doing their job, which is to keep the puck out of their net.

From 2020-21 to 2021-22, JBD only played 32 NHL games but among the 22 Sens D-men who played on the team, he ranks 4th best xGA/60 (only Kleven, Heatherington and Reilly were higher, also small sample sizes) and the 2nd best GA/60 (only Larsson had a better one but only 8 games). There's literally 1 more goal allowed per 60 when hamonic is on the ice (2.13 vs 3.13). And you have to note that JBD was 20 to 22 y/o during that time, not even fully NHL ready

So this is the only stat that matters for JBD, GA and xGA

I'd take him. We don't have any RD prospects. Crevier has been fine, but still not holding my breath on 1 guy. Allan is playing off side. Fine, but he's already back to Rockford where he should learn more about playing the right side just getting comfortable.

Our other option is Zaitsev...

Only one Bedard allowed per team.

Yeah but take those numbers with a grain of salt. xGA doesn’t really account for “meaningful” minutes played and quality of competition, where JBD was a bit sheltered there.

Now should Ottawa have waived him? Hell no. They should have NOT given Hamonic that contract and let Lassi and JBD fight for the 3RD spot. There’s potential with JBD, but it’s not like he’s anything extravagant. I still think a team should absolutely take a chance on him though, just like Lassi. Low risk, high reward.

Anaheim was ahead of CHI in the waiver order. So, it's possible CHI did attempt to claim him but got beat by the waiver order.

Edit: someone already said this. should have read first.

Yeah. Not extravagant, yet, but he is still young and has a pedigree that could make him a very good defenseman in the NHL at some point. Plus, he has more experience than most of our other defensemen. I would claim him all day and do whatever we have to with Zaitsev and the roster to make it work. I don't know what the heck Dorion is thinking risking both his top RHD prospects on waivers like this. If Thomson was claimed, JBD will absolutely be claimed.

Yeah of course small sample sizes can be tricky (only 32 games) but it's at least very encouraging when you're talking about 20-22 y/o D-man that was not enitrely NHL ready. I don't know about his exact quality of competition but he played most of his ES minutes with Chabot last season so I guess it was high competition actually. He played 15:20 per game on average, similar dZS%/oZS% at ES, don't remember him being that sheltered

Not only Hamonic shouldn't have been re-signed 2 years with a NMC but what would be the problem to have either Thomson or JBD as the 7th guy?

Chabot - Chychrun
Sanderson - Zub
Brannstrom - JBD
Thomson

That would have been my defense. Let Brannstrom handle the puck, give Brann his first regular partner that can defend adequately (had Josh Brown, then a declined Holden and now a declined Hamonic... poor guy lol)

Also, what's the rush to have Guenette in there who is waivers exempt? I like Guenette but I doubt he does any better than them... Anyway, it's just plain stupid to give up on prospects that young (all 3 were 22 y/o last season). And the fact that it is NOW means you're also not getting anything for them as all teams are set PLUS the waiver wire.

Dorion is really the worst GM since Milbury for me (and of course it's not just on that). The thing is he acts like he really knows everything but the guy traded Mika Zibanejad for a guy 6 years older who was... so he deserves another "blow up in his face" situation (like if Gustavssson wasn't enough last season). I hope all 3 have meaningful NHL careers lol

So this leads me to a different question that I hope someone would ask Kyle Davidson, but I'm sure his answer would be he doesn't comment on other team's moves.

A.) OTT had been stock piling picks since 2018 with trades of EK, Brassard, Duchene, JPG that have yielded them (6) 1st rounders, (4) 2nds, (3) 3rd, and a host of prospects like Joshua Norris. With that in mind combined with our own stock piling of picks... how would you go about preventing this "waiver claim situation" happening down the road to CHI OR to you would this simply be par for the course...meaning we're getting the players we want and not every pick is meant to be an NHLer?

That is a good question. I think foresight and a good understanding of what you have are probably the most important things. KD is talking the talk and, so far, walking the walk, but only time will tell. I don't know how things will look with KD down the road, but I think it's pretty safe to say that he is not Pierre Dorion. So, that is encouraging. haha

I'm curious if this will mean he might be more willing to move up in a draft. Not 100$ sure considering JBD and Lassi were #19 and #26 OA picks, but maybe that means he'll be more ambitious in getting to a top 15 or even top 10 pick. Is he more willing to "Sell early" like Mitchell/Regula? Just curious...

Yeah. It really depends. Right now, the 2024 draft isn't looking as exciting or deep as 2023. Which means there might not be any players worth moving up for. But, also, he was pretty adamant about moving up in the 2023 draft and no one would budge, luckily he still got his guy, though. I think, like the 2022 draft, there will be more teams willing to deal. So, we'll see how the draft eligibles do this year, and as we get a better feel for them, we'll get a better feel for what KD might do. It's pretty clear we know what he is trying to build. Most CHI fans on here were gushing over Moore, and it turned out KD felt the same way. This draft will probably be different, and they will likely be looking for power forwards and RHD at the top of the draft, but I think we have a good feel for what sort of intangibles tools KD likes all of his picks to have (skating, compete, etc.).