As the San Jose Sharks entered the 2015-16 NHL season, there were enough positives to feed the optimists and enough negatives to feed the pessimists. Many of the latter focused on general manager Doug Wilson and sometimes specifically his choice to move Brent Burns back to a defenseman.
Examining the way those two were instead huge reasons San Jose reached its first Stanley Cup Final helps give that accomplishment context. It is amazing those critics ever had any credibility. That perception is not limited to hindsight, either.
For one, skilled right-handed defensemen have more value than power forwards.