Keith/Karlsson or Hughes/Makar?

[dirtydanglez]

a poll with makar in it that hughes can actually win

 

[Tralfamadore]

Kieth is easily the best defensively of the group and 1D’d the Hawks to 3 Cups and 2 WCF appearances. He had 2 Norris trophies was considered a top 3 Dman for over half a decade.

Karlsson’s offense was so amazing he won 3 Norris trophies despite his pretty bad defense. His 2017 run was phenomenal as well.

Not sure why this is such a blowout especially with Q. Hughes being the clear cut weakest of the bunch.

Uhoh prepare yourself. The Canucks fans are coming.

 

[wetcoast]

It's close.

But it's also clear that Quinn Hughes is still, for whatever reason, wildly underrated. He's a top 5 player in the NHL.

The irony here is that Hughes won his Norris in a much more convincing fasion than EK ever did.

Assumed some health and Makar/Hughes is the easy pick here and I love Keith but he wasn't super consistent and I think both Hughes/Makar will have longer and better primes.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Are some of you really going to act like Quinn Hughes is not clearly the 4th best defenseman of the group?

 

[Ben White]

So far
Karlsson
Makar
Keith
Hughes

Could change to
Makar
Karlsson
Hughes
Keith

 

[NailsHoglander]

Hughes-Makar by far

Karlsson is clearly the worst of this group

 

[Castle8130]

I went back and forth on this clicking each duo around 4 times, but ended up landing on the young two. I don't think Hughes or Makar will ever have the impact Keith had in terms of stopping the best forwards in the league as well as he did. It really came down to how dominant these defensemen are against their era's. Makar has been the best defenseman in the league for a few years now and he is still so young. Hughes has also shown dominance from a young age. Keith was a dominant force everywhere, but I wouldn't say he separated himself from the pack by a whole lot or for too long of a time

It all comes down to how long they can sustain being the top dogs at their positions. Erik Karlsson was the best defenseman in the league for at-least two years of his career and I can see Makar/Hughes having a longer stretch.

 

[Regal]

Are some of you really going to act like Quinn Hughes is not clearly the 4th best defenseman of the group?

I don’t know if it’s clear cut. His regular season play since the start of last year is basically as good as any of them. He hasn’t had the playoffs of the others yet though

 

[qc14]

As good as Hughes/Makar have been I still think the carry jobs by Keith in 2015 and Karlsson in 2017 are two of the most impressive single playoff runs of all time.

 

[Breakers]

Point share, above replacement, points, etc etc etc have 09/10 as Kieth’s peak in the regular season

And he had an all-time defense core
Hjallmarsson
Byfuglien
Seabrook
Campbell
Kieth
Sopel

 

[x Tame Impala]

I don’t know if it’s clear cut. His regular season play since the start of last year is basically as good as any of them. He hasn’t had the playoffs of the others yet though

I really doubt given a choice a GM would choose Hughes over any of Karlsson, Makar, or Keith. Q. Hughes is great but he has one Norris win and a top 9 finish. Makar has [1, 2, 3, 3 ] finishes, Karlsson [1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 7], Keith has [1, 1, 4, 6, 6, 7]. Q. Hughes definitely wasn't playing at a Smythe level this past playoff campaign either. Something Makar did at 22 years old, somethign Karlsson did in 2017, something Keith did 3x in his career.

He's a dynamic player and one of the best in the league, he's still behind these 3 overall.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Defensively:

1. Keith


2. Makar
3. Hughes
4. Karlsson

Keith was a Stud, excellent in all 3 zones, barely made any mistakes while making terrific plays for 30 minutes a game during deep playoff runs, 3 Stanley Cups.

 

[Regal]

I really doubt given a choice a GM would choose Hughes over any of Karlsson, Makar, or Keith. Q. Hughes is great but he has one Norris win and a top 9 finish. Makar has [1, 2, 3, 3 ] finishes, Karlsson [1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 7], Keith has [1, 1, 4, 6, 6, 7]. Q. Hughes definitely wasn't playing at a Smythe level this past playoff campaign either. Something Makar did at 22 years old, somethign Karlsson did in 2017, something Keith did 3x in his career.

He's a dynamic player and one of the best in the league, he's still behind these 3 overall.

I agree for career he’s definitely a ways behind and GMs would take the guys who are more proven in the playoffs. But his Norris at 24 was the same year Keith even started getting any Norris votes, and he’s been even better this year. So while he’s definitely 4th right now, I don’t think he’s necessarily a worse player, he just has to do it for longer and on the biggest stage. It’s very doubtful he’ll have the playoff career of Keith, but he could have the better regular season career and I think he’s too good to not have a great playoffs at some point. Obviously a long way to go though.

I think the big thing here is that Keith started a bit late and Karlsson’s career was impacted by significant injury, so there’s potential for the younger guys to have a fuller prime, even if a peak to peak comparison might still end up in the old guys’ favour.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I agree for career he’s definitely a ways behind and GMs would take the guys who are more proven in the playoffs. But his Norris at 24 was the same year Keith even started getting any Norris votes, and he’s been even better this year. There’s still lots of time to pull ahead eventually. It’s very doubtful he’ll have the playoff career of Keith, but he could have the better regular season career. Obviously a long way to go though.

I think the big thing here is that Keith started a bit late and Karlsson’s career was impacted by significant injury, so there’s potential for the younger guys to have a fuller prime, even if a peak to peak comparison might still end up in the old guys’ favour.

That's fair. I personally would have a hard time putting Hughes above these guys until he has a monster run in the playoffs. It's the most important thing and something all of the great defenseman have done.

 

[Regal]

That's fair. I personally would have a hard time putting Hughes above these guys until he has a monster run in the playoffs. It's the most important thing and something all of the great defenseman have done.

Yea I agree. I think he will eventually though, even if it’s not in Vancouver (because this franchise doesn’t seem capable of winning).