Comments / New

Season Review 2017: Paul Postma

Paul Postma has been underused by the Winnipeg Jets for years. While he is not the top pairing player he was forced to be in spurts when Dustin Byfuglien was injured, he is also not a player who is healthy scratched more frequently that Ben Chiarot and Mark Stuart. Postma is the perfect example of a player who is a good depth player, but needs to be more than that in the eyes of some.

Postma played in 65 games this season and was rarely noticed, which is good for any defenceman. Postma is not a big points producer nor is he physical, yet his usually smart play has made him a solid contributor to the Jets. At this point it is obvious that Postma is a solid 10-20 minutes a night defenceman who can move up in the lineup in a pinch. While this is how Postma is generally used, he is not always played ahead of the aforementioned Chiarot and Stuart and that is a problem.

It is clear that Postma is a middling talent at best and needs to play with good players to perform consistently. However, he had some massive low points this year. I believe his lowest point came against the Boston Bruins in the game where the Jets did not crack 15 shots. With his middling talent, it is not imperative that the Jets retain Postma. As long as they replace him with another depth defenceman of a similar talent, the Jets will be okay. Postma is not the type of player that helps win games for a team.

Postma has been partnered with Tobias Enstrom in the past, but due to Enstrom’s decline, this is now an ill-advised pairing. Instead, Postma is best off on the bottom pair where he can try to keep Chiarot or Stuart afloat. Postma He will probably not be re-signed by July 1. This is not an issue for the Jets as long as they sign some other mobile bottom pairing defenceman to play in that position. That players should be capable of moving up in the lineup in case of injury. This is what Postma is. He is not important to the Jets and they can find any player who can play that role well for cheap.

Looking for an easy way to support Arctic Ice Hockey?
Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!

Talking Points