I agree entirely .. the only upside to Garrison finishing more checks, when they are spread out in front of them, will be to force forwards to keep their head up more .. Phaneuf is a waste of space, allowing so many odd-man situations with his "kill or miss" mentality ..
I expect him to start hitting a bit more as he gets comfortable with the system .. if you watch him, he sometimes shoes a forward with one hand and puts them on their arse .. his strength could become a scary attribute if he used it a bit more often ..
Not high-risk hits .. finishing checks that are there to be had .. will make him an even better shut-down defender .. best of both worlds ..