A benefit of the timing of the Muzzin trade is that he was acquired a full month before the trade deadline, giving him and the team more runway to get him acclimated and comfortable before the playoffs. It might take some time and patience before Muzzin’s usage and fit is settled, but at the end of the day, it will make this team’s defense core much capable of stacking up against the stiff competition at the top of the Eastern Conference.
The tricky aspect of deciding who will play with who post-Muzzin trade is, of course, handedness. Rielly, in my view, is a good candidate to play his off-side — and it looks like he’ll start there with Muzzin on the left, but it could change over time, as Babcock mentioned the point Nik Lidstrom made about putting the most skilled player on the side most conducive to making plays on his forehand.