If there is one answer to any question that lives rent-free in my head, it refers to what Chuck Fletcher said about the makeup of the defense after mentioning Erik Gustafsson not working out:
“There’s different types of defensemen. There’s puck-moving offensive defensemen, there’s defensive defensemen, and there are a few that combine both. We’ll just have to see what the opportunities are in the summer, and we’ll also have to continue to see how some of our defensemen play here for the rest of the season.”
Chuck Fletcher; 4/12/21
Per his own words, Fletcher knows what needs to happen this offseason.