What Team Has the Top Future D Corp

[Garbageyuk]

Your opinion is just that which is fair, but you’d be hard pressed to find a NJ fan who would agree with you. He showed up hurt so he got off to something of a slow start but post four nations he’s been fantastic for NJ. He’s scoring over a point per game and his defensive game has grown tremendously. He played almost 30 minutes last night when he can’t even practice because of a lingering injury. Outside of some stat watching without context I struggle to see anything other than significant improvement as an all around top pair all situations defender. Now Nemec is another story. You will find plenty of NJ fans agreeing with you on him. He makes too many mistakes and at times doesn’t seem to learn from them. On balance they have a bright future on defense but if you want to downgrade them a bit based on Nemec I can understand. Downgrading them at all based on Hughes is strongly disagree with.

Okay? Did you notice I didn’t cut my own team any slack on the injuries front either? It is what it is.

 

[Sendhelp2Anaheim]

I think the way they are cooking Luneau is perfect. He always needed to sharpen up on the D side, so the AHL is a perfect spot to do so. Thanks for your feedback.

Big Luneau fan... i saw him and Mintyukov being our future top pair....

Lacombe i thought was going to top off as a 2nd pairing guy, but right now hes looking like a top pair dmen... which is a huge hit, as i feel like majority thought hed be like 3rd or 4th best dmen on roster.

And a guy like Helleson being a productive 3rd pair guy was a big hit for us.

Itll be interesting to see what happens the next couple years with Mintyukov, Zellweger, Luneau, Moore, Solberg (and a couple guys like Hinds, Dioncicio, T. Smith,)

 

[Eegs]

Big Luneau fan... i saw him and Mintyukov being our future top pair....

Lacombe i thought was going to top off as a 2nd pairing guy, but right now hes looking like a top pair dmen... which is a huge hit, as i feel like majority thought hed be like 3rd or 4th best dmen on roster.

And a guy like Helleson being a productive 3rd pair guy was a big hit for us.

Itll be interesting to see what happens the next couple years with Mintyukov, Zellweger, Luneau, Moore, Solberg (and a couple guys like Hinds, Dioncicio, T. Smith,)

Just a hunch, and i love the player, but I can see Zellweger being used as trade bait to strengthen other parts of the team.

 

[Sendhelp2Anaheim]

Just a hunch, and i love the player, but I can see Zellweger being used as trade bait to strengthen other parts of the team.

I feel like PV is prob on that boat.

Lacombe
Mintyukov Luneau
Solberg Helleson

All 6'2+.... There is part of me that wants to grab Mrtka at the draft (tho hoping for Martone/Martin)

 

[dj Mahoney]

The more I see Rinzel & Levshunov the more it seems like Blackhawks are easily the top future D. These two RD both look like #1 D If they continue on the path they are on . To a lesser degree Kaiser , Del Mastro , Korchinski & Allan , these four are giving snap shots of what they can become.

 

[Trojans86]

The more I see Rinzel & Levshunov the more it seems like Blackhawks are easily the top future D. These two RD both look like #1 D If they continue on the path they are on . To a lesser degree Kaiser , Del Mastro , Korchinski & Allan , these four are giving snap shots of what they can become.

I didn’t realize they were both doing that well. That’s going to be huge for their rebuild with Bedard.

 

[FlappyGiraffe]

Whatever rebuilding team lands Dupont in 2027 will have the best future D core

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Detroit has to be up there with Seider, Edvinsson, Sandin-Pellikka, and Al Johansson. Few other D prospects might make names as #4/5/6 guys, but the main guys are going to be a formidable, well-rounded group

 

[lwvs84]

Ducks have probably gotten the best value overall, only 1 top 20 pick in the system on D and that was Mintyukov at #10. Most of the competitive ones have either used much higher picks or multiple high picks. LaCombe, Zellweger, Luneau, Helleson (through trade, though) all 2nd round picks. Moore also looking good in limited time in the AHL. LaCombe looking like the biggest steal of them right now, if he can keep it up (or improve).

 

[Castle8130]

The more I see Rinzel & Levshunov the more it seems like Blackhawks are easily the top future D. These two RD both look like #1 D If they continue on the path they are on . To a lesser degree Kaiser , Del Mastro , Korchinski & Allan , these four are giving snap shots of what they can become.

Im still skeptical of either becoming true #1s. The Hawks have a very deep group of young defensemen, but are still missing a true no-brainer #1. If the Hawks got a top 10 defenseman in the league added to this group, then yes. Id project both Rinzel and Levshunov as #2s from what ive seen of them, but the varaince is still very high

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

Can Ottawa be on this list or nah?

 

[MNRube]

The more I see Rinzel & Levshunov the more it seems like Blackhawks are easily the top future D. These two RD both look like #1 D If they continue on the path they are on . To a lesser degree Kaiser , Del Mastro , Korchinski & Allan , these four are giving snap shots of what they can become.

Vlasic, Levshunov, Rinzel, Korchinski has the makings of an absolutely lethal Top 4. It rarely works out when you project a full blueline of young guys (see Philadelphia about 7 years ago or Anaheim around the same time) but I love the size and variety of skillsets the Hawks have to work with.

 

[majormajor]

Detroit has to be up there with Seider, Edvinsson, Sandin-Pellikka, and Al Johansson. Few other D prospects might make names as #4/5/6 guys, but the main guys are going to be a formidable, well-rounded group

I would absolutely agree. You've got a couple #1D there, though perhaps no elite #1s.

This is HF though so no one wants to talk about D that are older than 21. The "top future D corps" is apparently going to be coming entirely from players that aren't in the league yet.

To be serious for a moment - I think the best D corps in 5 years might be a team that has Quinn Hughes, or Cale Makar, or Zach Werenski on it. Those still might be the best D in the league. Perhaps Dahlin or Schaefer. Maybe Sanderson takes another step. It could be the Wings.

Ducks have probably gotten the best value overall, only 1 top 20 pick in the system on D and that was Mintyukov at #10. Most of the competitive ones have either used much higher picks or multiple high picks. LaCombe, Zellweger, Luneau, Helleson (through trade, though) all 2nd round picks. Moore also looking good in limited time in the AHL. LaCombe looking like the biggest steal of them right now, if he can keep it up (or improve).

This is also why the "top future D-corp" talk shouldn't center around high-drafted prospects that aren't in the league yet. It's so often the 2nd rounders that pop, but they usually aren't on the leaguewide radar until they prove it in the NHL.

 

[My3Sons]

I would absolutely agree. You've got a couple #1D there, though perhaps no elite #1s.

This is HF though so no one wants to talk about D that are older than 21. The "top future D corps" is apparently going to be coming entirely from players that aren't in the league yet.

To be serious for a moment - I think the best D corps in 5 years might be a team that has Quinn Hughes, or Cale Makar, or Zach Werenski on it. Those still might be the best D in the league. Perhaps Dahlin or Schaefer. Maybe Sanderson takes another step. It could be the Wings.



This is also why the "top future D-corp" talk shouldn't center around high-drafted prospects that aren't in the league yet. It's so often the 2nd rounders that pop, but they usually aren't on the leaguewide radar until they prove it in the NHL.

Stop with the thoughtful and rational perspective. It’s so much more fun to project teenagers and presume every single one of my team’s prospects reaches their absolute peak potential and avoids injury and that prospects on other teams fail miserably. It’s the hfboards way.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

DET, NJD, CHI

Maybe MTL? Not sold on some of the guys like Mailloux, Engstrom etc but they have an elite #1 in Hutson, a likely future top pairing D in Reinbacher, and very solid pieces like Guhle

 

[My3Sons]

Who has the best defense right now? Winnipeg? TB? LA? Dallas? Colorado? Are Winnipeg and LA products of their goalies? None of them are entirely made up of young home grown guys and none have more than maybe two top of the league type of players. The salary cap will not allow teams to just hoard talent perpetually. If guys are that good they will have to get paid and it's hard to keep the band together as they develop.

 

[majormajor]

Who has the best defense right now? Winnipeg? TB? LA? Dallas? Colorado? Are Winnipeg and LA products of their goalies? None of them are entirely made up of young home grown guys and none have more than maybe two top of the league type of players. The salary cap will not allow teams to just hoard talent perpetually. If guys are that good they will have to get paid and it's hard to keep the band together as they develop.

That's part of why I thought this thread should be retitled something like "what set of D prospects will make the best future D-corp?" - that's the discussion most people wanted to have yet it's a different topic from who will have the best future D-corp.

Your future D-corp won't be six guys drafted by the same team who were all 18-21 at the same time. It will be 1 or 2 elite D that you draft, plus 1 or 2 key trade acuisitions for whatever qualities you are missing, plus a stream of cost-efficient RFA talent, plus some cheap veterans. So Tampa had 1 elite guy in Hedman, 1 big trade acquisition in McDonagh, 2 very cost-efficient RFAs in Sergachev and Cernak, and a flow of cheap veterans like Rutta and Shattenkirk. By this view, what matters is whether your organization has a potentially elite #1D at the top and a couple very good cost-efficient RFA pieces. They don't have to be prospects at the same time. Hedman is eight years older than Sergachev.

 

[MNRube]

Who has the best defense right now?

Vegas.

 

[zenator]

Can Ottawa be on this list or nah?

It depends what they mean by future. If it's 4 years from now, yes, as Sanderson, Chabot, and Zub aren't going anywhere soon. And that's a really good top 3. I'm sure 1-3 of Kleven, Matinpalo, and Yakemchuk can be decent options in the 4-6 slot. I have faith that Steady Steve can fill out the remaining 2-3 bottom positions with good trades, FA signings, or draft picks the next few years. The hardest part is to find and keep a top end #1 defenseman.

But then again, this is HFBoards, where unproven potential is better than actual quality NHL players.

Even though some of their D is getting old, I'm sure some or most of Vegas, Florida, Tampa, Washington, Colorado, Winnipeg and Dallas will be at the top, due to having great GMs / pro scouting. They will find good defensemen either in trades, FA signings, or draft.

But of course, in the HFBoards world, only prospects count, not good NHL players. And teams never find good players anywhere except in the draft.

If we're talking 8-10 years, then any of 32 teams could be at the top of the best d-core list, depending who hires or keeps great GMs.

 

[WarriorofTime]

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Super long term future? Probably Chicago. It would be Chicago slam dunk no questions asked if they had drafted Hutson. Anaheim would be my answer if they had drafted Hutson too.

Montreal is in very good shape presuming Reinbacher develops well. I would have thought New Jersey but Nemec being ass this year gives me extreme pause.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Super long term future? Probably Chicago. It would be Chicago slam dunk no questions asked if they had drafted Hutson. Anaheim would be my answer if they had drafted Hutson too.

Hey Paul Ludwinski is trending towards... (don't look at his stats)

 

[WarriorofTime]

Who has the best defense right now? Winnipeg? TB? LA? Dallas? Colorado? Are Winnipeg and LA products of their goalies? None of them are entirely made up of young home grown guys and none have more than maybe two top of the league type of players. The salary cap will not allow teams to just hoard talent perpetually. If guys are that good they will have to get paid and it's hard to keep the band together as they develop.

Anaheim massively fumbled the bag.

That is one risk with young DMen, it's a lot easier to asset mismanage.

 

[WarriorofTime]

But then again, this is HFBoards, where unproven potential is better than actual quality NHL players.

Even though some of their D is getting old, I'm sure some or most of Vegas, Florida, Tampa, Washington, Colorado, Winnipeg and Dallas will be at the top, due to having great GMs / pro scouting. They will find good defensemen either in trades, FA signings, or draft.

But of course, in the HFBoards world, only prospects count, not good NHL players. And teams never find good players anywhere except in the draft.

If we're talking 8-10 years, then any of 32 teams could be at the top of the best d-core list, depending who hires or keeps great GMs.

What a copout answer "whichever team does the best in terms of signing/trading/acquiring defensemen will have the best defensive group"

Sure, yeah, ok. And whichever teams plays best in the playoffs will win the Cup.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

I would absolutely agree. You've got a couple #1D there, though perhaps no elite #1s.

This is HF though so no one wants to talk about D that are older than 21. The "top future D corps" is apparently going to be coming entirely from players that aren't in the league yet.

To be serious for a moment - I think the best D corps in 5 years might be a team that has Quinn Hughes, or Cale Makar, or Zach Werenski on it. Those still might be the best D in the league. Perhaps Dahlin or Schaefer. Maybe Sanderson takes another step. It could be the Wings.



This is also why the "top future D-corp" talk shouldn't center around high-drafted prospects that aren't in the league yet. It's so often the 2nd rounders that pop, but they usually aren't on the leaguewide radar until they prove it in the NHL.

This is why Anaheim has to be my choice as most of their dmen are second round picks or later