Is Seth Jones Lowkey the Best D In the NHL?

[JianYang]

I mean, when he's on the top of his game, he has every thing you want in a dman.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Preds fan thrilled to see his evolution. There was not much doubt he could get to this level but it is questionable he would have gotten the playing time to develop stuck behind our top 4. Trade was always going to be a loss to some extent if he developed properly, teams just don't trade young forwards of the same caliber. Of course we would all go back in a time machine and trade Weber or Ellis instead if we could.

 

[TheTechNoir]

Tampa drafted Drouin ahead of him. LOL. Most people consider Yzerman as one of the best GM. But this was on his watch. A lot of scouting reports even listed him as the No 1 ahead of MacKinnon. But IMO MacK is still better. Not sure between Barkov or him. But how Tampa scouts failed to see Drouin was a by-product of MacK?

On the draft day interview, he said the teams would regret. How true that was in Tampa's case. Imagine having him instead of Sergachev. Probably would have turned the fate of Tampa CBJ series in the opposite way.

Drouin was not a byproduct of MacK at all. Drouin was a player who, imo, was obviously less NHL built than MacKinnon. Drouin was better than MacK at times at the Q level, in fact. And Drouin had high potential. But as for who was more likely to excell at the NHL level? MacK was already NHL ready and tailored.
Drouin was often racking up points by getting around people with moves that would not work so well against nhl calibre defense, and getting away with some cheating/bad habits that works in the CHL but not at the next level.

I was shocked he was taken when he was, also. I underrated Barkov a bit. But it was obvious to me, I felt at the time, that it was Jones & MacK as 1/2.

But yeah. Nope. MacK and Drouin benefited from each other, but def no one made the other. Just like Drouin and Ehlers or Ehlers and Meier were not products of each other.

 

[The Jones Zone]

The "Odd man out" in The Trade

Thank you Preds

 

[The Jones Zone]

Jones is a great D but he's getting overrated these playoffs. He's been very lucky.

 

[mriswith]

Hindsight.... At the time of the draft picking him wasn't considered odd; nobody had a problem with it.

Barkov at #3 was the surprise stretch pick at the time while Drouin at #2 was understandable

Barkov went #2 and Drouin over Jones was just as shocking as Barkov over Jones.

People forget that Mackinnon and Jones were seen as on par and in contention for #1 overall all year that year. And Mackinnon was thought of very highly, as having McDavid potential.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Barkov went #2 and Drouin over Jones was just as shocking as Barkov over Jones.

People forget that Mackinnon and Jones were seen as on par and in contention for #1 overall all year that year. And Mackinnon was thought of very highly, as having McDavid potential.

Ah my bad Barkov went 2nd.

I know MacKinnon and Jones were the two favourites but I don't remember people thinking Drouin was a bad pick

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

Such a good draft year

MacKinnon (best player in the world)
Jones (best defenceman)
Barkov (best 2 way center)

Just a reminder that MacKinnon plays with Rantanen and Landeskog. Jack Eichel literally plays on a line by himself with a shopping cart and a pinecone on the blue line.

 

[simon IC]

He's a great defenseman, one that you don't always hear a ton of praise about - but no he's not the best. Maybe among the best - but there's still some absolutely fantastic defensemen in this league.

Doughty - despite the bad season
Hedman
Karlsson
Subban
Burns

Others too. He's young so if the question was "who do you take moving forward" - he certainly goes up the list above some of these guys, though still wouldn't be #1.

Lol @ Subban in that list.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Bitch he might be

 

[Bednars Suit Game]

He is an absolute monster. It has been a treat watching him play these playoffs. CBJ fans are lucky to have him.

 

[TT1]

is this a lowkey hot take thread?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

He's been absolutely insane these playoffs, but he was better in the RS last season, and by a decent margin too (not just numbers).

He still hasn't reached his full potential. He's a special player.

 

[BmxHockey]

It doesn’t take many shifts to figure out who is a competent skater and who is talented with great decision making skills- Jones is pretty darn good.

 

[greasysnapper]

He's great. But I think there are more lowkey studs around the league that have really shined this playoffs. Slavin's a good example.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Barkov went #2 and Drouin over Jones was just as shocking as Barkov over Jones.

People forget that Mackinnon and Jones were seen as on par and in contention for #1 overall all year that year. And Mackinnon was thought of very highly, as having McDavid potential.

I think, people still take Barkov before Jones nowadays... apart from Edmonton, probably... and Colorado.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Lowkey? I'm getting old

 

[Realgud]

Everytime I watch Hedman I think he sucks and keeps making mistakes.
Everytime I watch Jones I think he's the best player on the ice (sometimes it's Werenski).

Granted, I have not watched them for more than 10 games each, so my opinion isn't worth much, but I do love me some Jonesy.

 

[Kamiccolo]

This happens every single year. The deeper a team goes into the playoffs, the more over rated their players become.

However Jones is legit and a top 10 D easily. However I am not convinced he is any better than a number of young D that are in his group, he's just gotten the media to take notice of him.

 

[cgf]

Astute observation as that is the defensemen Jones said he grew up idolizing.

Traitor.

Hindsight.... At the time of the draft picking him wasn't considered odd; nobody had a problem with it.

Barkov at #3 was the surprise stretch pick at the time while Drouin at #2 was understandable

Eh, the avs were debating Barkov vs MacKinnon until late in the process & even brought Sasha in to meet some players & staff. So Barkov going 2nd wasn't that big of a surprise by draft day; even though Seth had been the one battling MacK atop the scouts' lists through most of the season.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Jones is very well rounded and while not possessing a spectacular skillset that sets him apart, he really has no weakness in his game whereas some of the other top Dmen have some amazing skills but also have some weaknesses, for example Karlsson struggles defending a heavy cycle and in board battles, Hedman and Burns have mobility and pivoting issues that at times get exploited etc.

 

[TheOtherOne]

AINEC and it's not even AINEC

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Very well rounded player, definitely think he'll end up with a Norris or 2.

Crazy thought, I don't really see many young d that are his caliber, so he could have a 3ish year window where he could win more than one Norris, which would get him into the Hall of Fame.

 

[jibbz]

A big fat no

 

[majormajor]

If this is his usual level of play

Sort of. He was this good in 2017-2018 and in my opinion, should have had the Norris over Hedman. He was I believe 4th or 5th in the voting.

His play dipped in the middle of 2018-2019, and Seth was pretty open about that. He's fixed things in the last month of the season, as the team has.

I know of no defenseman who controls as much ice with his skating and stickwork, maybe Slavin. One issue for Jones has been the disaster that the Columbus PP has been, and some of that blame will inevitably go to him. He could hit 70+ points if the PP is as good as it could be.