These are also verifiable facts.
He's averaged 62 games played per season in the NHL from 2017-2024. He's averaged 37 points per season over that time period.
That puts him 33rd in total production among defencemen over that time period, while he's currently being paid as the 17th most expensive d-man in the league.
Seeing as he signed that contract in 2020, virtually every defenceman ahead of him in the salary rankings have signed their contracts when the cap was higher.
1) ok yeah, this fact reflects that he has been injury prone which I never did not acknowledged. Some people somehow think it's been for a long time but in reality it's only the last 3 seasons as he :
- also played in the AHL during his rookie season 63 GP in the NHL, 13 GP in the AHL (don't think he was injured at any point)
- played all the 71 games of the 2019-20 season (cut short by covid)
- only missed 7 games in the shortened 2020-21 season
Result : he only missed 19 games in is first 4 NHL seasons.
2) Also, including his 20 y/o rookie season will understandably impact his productivity
If you only look at 21-24 y/o where he was established in the NHL and healthy, he was 12th in D scoring during these 3 seasons combined. 13th best D PPG during that time, tied with Erik Karlsson.
The next 3 seasons, he missed his share of games and is 42nd in D scoring (29th in PPG though). Let's note that a lot of (future) Elite D-men have joined the league in the last few years, many guys who will soon make a lot of money too, like Jake Sanderson starting this year
3) Finally, frankly, saying he has averaged 62 GP and 37 Pts per season in the NHL from 2017-2024 is disingenuous and surprised me coming from an experienced poster like you... 1 season was his rookie season where he missed games due to being in the AHL, 2 other seasons were shortened by a global pandemic... You assuredly knew that, no?