A coach should pick his assistants. Gallant and Gord Murphy (who was already here in Hartford last year) have worked together before in Columbus. His picking Murphy makes sense. Also adding Steve Smith to Hartford could be a very good move.
Eventually I think Nils will be the odd man out. We have a lot of undersized defensemen—Fox, Lindgren (I know he’s physical but….), Jones, Lundkvist and Reunanen. They are all good but you don’t go deep into the playoffs with an undersized defense. Skill takes teams only so far. There also needs to be a lunch pail dynamic. Teams start trying to beat each other up. Rangers RD I suspect will eventually be Fox, Trouba, Schneider. If the Rangers can eventually get one of their larger young D to handle the leftover power play minutes for Fox that would be great.
I think of those small D you listed, the only one who is a sure bet to stay over Lundkvist in the long term is Fox. And hopefully Lindgren as he's a solid warrior that is always useful. I don't think we will have more than 2 smaller skilled D on a playoff roster. And I think Nils and Fox are those two guys. We won a cup with Leetch and Zubov. And if you have 4 other guys who can play all situations and handle the toughness part you'll be more than fine.
And while I tend to agree that skill only takes you so far in the playoffs, that you need big bodies to grind. I also think that guys with elite hockey IQ are invaluable to playoff success. If your mind can process the speed of the playoffs it makes a huge diff. Derek Stepan was the kind of player who may not have had the best wheels, but he thought the game so well that he always had a big impact in the playoffs. Panarin has similarly shown that ability as did Leetch and Zubov back in the day.
Point is, once we get to the playoffs with Fox and Lundkvist and/or Jones on the roster, we will get a gauge on their playoff viability. Right now, we really don't know. Lundkvist and Jones could turn out to be regular season juggernauts and playoff mice. Or they could be real difference makers.
Look at last year's Avs team. Makar looked phenomenal offensively. Girard had a rough time later in the playoffs. We just have to see.