3 best swedish defenders right now? (3 selections possible )
- Thread starter matsqq
- Start date
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
they are the best we got offensivly but defensivly all 3 are shit. Best swedes in the own zone are Hampus Lindholm, Ekholm and Forsling.
FinPanda
Team Finland 2022 WHC champions
Yeah I picked mine based on defense and not those who are 4th forwards.
Karlsson, Dahlin and Hedman are all good. I feel like Hedman isn't as good as he used to be.
I voted Dahlin, Forsling and Ekholm, but I don’t feel super confident in it. Dahlin’s offense took a hit this year but the whole team struggled in front of him and his underlying numbers and the eye test still looks solid, though it’s tough to get a read on a poor team. Meanwhile Forsling and Ekholm have just been so solid all around the past couple years.
Meanwhile Hedman’s defense has been fading and Karlsson is pretty hit and miss. Lindholm was great last year but not quite the same this year. Brodin is arguably the best purely defensively though doesn’t bring much offense and Andersson is a strong all around defenseman. I honestly can see cases for most of them. There’s a lot of differences in terms of what each brings and/or how their track record vs recent play has been.
Meanwhile Hedman’s defense has been fading and Karlsson is pretty hit and miss. Lindholm was great last year but not quite the same this year. Brodin is arguably the best purely defensively though doesn’t bring much offense and Andersson is a strong all around defenseman. I honestly can see cases for most of them. There’s a lot of differences in terms of what each brings and/or how their track record vs recent play has been.
HockeyWooot
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biturbo19
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I think people might be getting a little carried away with it, because Forsling and Ekholm are still playing in the conference finals right now. But should "best defenders right now" not include at least some measure of recency bias?
Like Karlsson may have scored a bunch of points and won the Art Ross for Defencemen last year. But he was ass this year, and it's not like he was any good defensively last year either. Or multiple years before that when he also wasn't even really scoring that much.
Hedman, Dahlin...and i can see cases for others here, but i'd probably go Lindholm personally. Forsling, Ekholm, Andersson wouldn't be outrageous though. They each have an argument i think.
I think you are wrong on Karlsson. Look at stats at moneypuck (nr 1 at on ice expected goal differential for his teams these seasons in 5vs5) - so he was great both this year and last season. Sure, you trade some defense for offense but when you go plus on that exchange what is there to complain about .
Xspyrit
DJ Dorion
Voted Dahlin, Forsling, Karlsson.
Sounds like Hyperbole. Transition is part of defense and Karlsson is elite at it.
Sounds like Hyperbole. Transition is part of defense and Karlsson is elite at it.
System and team play have a huge impact on some of these stats, especially the entry denials. Dahlin loves standing people up in the neutral zone though. Dahlin excels at recovering the puck and getting out of the zone. EK does not excel off the puck in the boards like Dahlin but is undeniably the best at turning an exit into an offensive zone rush. The difference in physicality is huge as well. Dahlin doesn't have the speed to excel like EK off the rush but is good at finding space to get into the zone.
