Who are your top 10 defenseman next season?

[Fourier]

Its his first and only year so far where he's been this good so I think its fine to think Bouchard isn't a sure thing compared to a lot of other defenseman who've shown their stuff for years.

I mean I'm sure Makar has always been at the top of these lists every year but even he has up and down years.

His first full year yes , but he was fantastic in the 2023 playoffs and down the stretch. But it was also only his third real year in the league and he had 40 or more points in each of his first two years.

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

Always funny when someone on a forum offers grammatical or spelling advice, especially when they don’t edit their own post.

You laughed at my post that had a question, it’s not hard to figure out the post you quoted what I was asking. You even answered it.

Your post was barely legible .

 

[PaulD]

Ekholm is not a better d-man than McAvoy.

Coupke yeas ago i wouod have agreed. But Ekholm has looked great in play offs every round.
Charlie has been anything but in recent rounds. Panthers own him. Leafs made him look bad.
Tries to do way too much. All the tools , no tool box.
Ekholm surpassed him

 

[SmytheKing]

I always like these threads. Folks pretending they watch enough NHL hockey (with the critical ability) to discuss who the top 10 anything are league wide.

 

[Sombastate]

In no particular order:

Makar, Fox, Hughes, Heiskanen, McAvoy, Bouchard, Dahlin, Hedman

And who i'd like to see round out the top 10 by years end:

Seider, Faber, Sanderson

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Toews at 24 is so hilariously bad.

Perhaps my ranking of Devon Toews was a bit low at #24 but he’s not a top 10 defender in the National IMO, maybe a #14 or #15 is where Towes should have been now that I’m taking a closer look at him again, but I’m not one for editing. Forsling and Morgan Rielly have good cases for #14-#15 as well with no bias from my POV.

Toews has been consistent the last 3 seasons, I admire his play more in the defensive zone then I do as a point producer. Toews can push the puck wherever he wants at times which helps in transition, lots of folks underrate Toews defensively which is why Toews doesn’t get the credit he deserves I’ve underrated him as well.

 

[Erik Alfredsson]

1. Hughes
2. Fox
3. Makar
4. Josi
5. Hedman
6. McAvoy
7. Heiskanen
8. Karlsson
9. Doughty
10. Dahlin

 

[wintersej]

Ok, but I think a fair follow up questions is: why does Carolina keep acquiring PPQB's?

A top 10 defenseman in the world runs their team's powerplay. I guess I have high standards for being top 10. I thought it was like, you know, the 10 best in the world or something.

Ok now talk about Fox being 4th on the Rangers in PK TOI.

A top 10 defensemen in the world should be out there in key times against the other teams best players, no?

 

[Xirik]

His first full year yes , but he was fantastic in the 2023 playoffs and down the stretch. But it was also only his third real year in the league and he had 40 or more points in each of his first two years.

Agreed, I just want to see him replicate or closely replicate the past season before I put him in a "top 10 defenseman for next season list." especially when there are more safer bets.

 

[Machinehead]

Ok now talk about Fox being 4th on the Rangers in PK TOI.

A top 10 defensemen in the world should be out there in key times against the other teams best players, no?

Fox is one of the best penalty killers in the league.

The Rangers are run by literal low-IQ morons and they used Trouba more in every situation but powerplay.

Maybe the Hurricanes are just morons too, but their analytics are good and our's are ass cheeks so I think they're smarter than us.

 

[Nucks2001]

NOT IN ORDER WITHIN TIER
(and probably not 10)

Tier 1:
Fox
Makar
Hughes

Tier 2:
McAvoy
Josi
Heiskanen
Bouchard

Tier 3:
Toews
Morrissey
Dahlin
Dobson
Slavin
Faber
Sanderson
Forsling
Doughty

Bouchard in Tier 2! What does he do better than Josh Morrisey?

 

[Xirik]

Fox is one of the best penalty killers in the league.

The Rangers are run by literal low-IQ morons and they used Trouba more in every situation but powerplay.

Maybe the Hurricanes are just morons too, but their analytics are good and our's are ass cheeks so I think they're smarter than us.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

1. Makar
2. Hughes
3. Heiskanen
4. Josi
5. Fox
6. Hedman
7. Bouchard
8. Dobson
9. Slavin
10. McAvoy

(HM: Dahlin, Morrissey)

 

[UnSandvich]

Bouchard in Tier 2! What does he do better than Josh Morrisey?

Offense. Tbh though, Bouchard and Morrisey are roughly at the same level imo. More 2.5 than 2 or 3. Could reasonably drop Bouchard down to top of tier 3, even if i didn't

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Josh Morrissey has been tearing it up the last two seasons but still doesn’t get the credit he deserves, should be inside of the top 10 but is missing off some posters list.

Charlie McAvoy on the other hand seems to be an odd case, though he scored a career high in goals last season, he took a slight hit defensively as he was paired with Grzelcyk then Lohrei towards the end of the season, as he didn’t carry the puck as much and was more into shot suppression in his own end.

 

[UnSandvich]

Ok now talk about Fox being 4th on the Rangers in PK TOI.

A top 10 defensemen in the world should be out there in key times against the other teams best players, no?

NYR Dmen by xGA/60 on PK:
Fox- 4.98 in 114:06
Schneider- 5.27 in 90:13
Miller- 6.3 in 150:25
Lindgren- 7.92 in 207:37
Trouba- 7.92 in 197:18


EDIT: Among D with at least 100 mins shorthanded, Fox was the single best D in the league with 4.98 xGA/60 on the PK. #2, Vincent Desharnais was nearly a full goal more, at 5.97

EDIT 2: Among D with at least 100 mins shorthanded, Fox also had the second highest xGF% leaguewide on the PK, behind only K'Andre Miller

 

[Nucks2001]

Offense. Tbh though, Bouchard and Morrisey are roughly at the same level imo. More 2.5 than 2 or 3. Could reasonably drop Bouchard down to top of tier 3, even if i didn't

Not really. Morrisey has had the same offensive output on the Jets the past 2 seasons without having McDavid or Drai. Morrisey is far better defensively than Bouchard. As another poster said, Morrisey does not get the love he deserves and if you watched him play, it’s a night and day difference with him in the lineup for the Jets.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

From evidence I have gathered internally, I believe Morgan Rielly should be top 3 on the list.

Zach Hyman went from a 21 goal scoring 41 point player to more than double each of those.

54 goals and 83 points.

If we use a similar standard of measurement moving Rielly from T.O. to Edmonton, he should be capable of 40 goals and 144 points and that's being conservative.

Those are Art Ross numbers!

Bouchard who?

 

[hamzarocks]

JUst get this out of the way

Bouchard is better than every NHL dman besides

Makar
Josi
Fox
Hughes

Heiskinen is close but edge Bouchard who went head to head and dominated dallas

McAvoy, Slavin, Hedman are laughable at this point

1. Makar

2. Josi
3. Fox

4. Hughes

5. Bouchard
6. Heiskinen

7. Hedman
8. Dobson
9. McAvoy

10-20 are a bunch of guys

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Heiskinen is close but edge Bouchard who went head to head and dominated dallas

Okay but theres a bit of a difference in who each was actually facing. They weren't going into the corners against each other, one was up against Hintz, Robertson, Benn and Johnston the other was playing against Mcdavid, Draisaitl, Hyman and Nuge.

No offense to Dallas but playing Hintz and Johnston is quite a bit easier than McDrai.

 

[jackjohnson]

Did you have Karlsson top-3 after he won the year before?

Not saying I don't have Hughes in my top 3 BTW. Just pointing out it's not always as simple as that sometimes.

Hughes won the Norris and so he is a number 1 D man in the league right now. You guys putting him 5 or 6 or 10 just makes it seem like winning a Norris is nothing. Just because Karlsson won it one time and he did get more than 100 points that season doesnt make this award worthless unless you want to argue against Lidstrom and others winning it. Its only this forum that keeps knocking Hughes down even after a Norris win which i find pathetic. Give credit where credit is due.

 

[wintersej]

Josh Morrissey has been tearing it up the last two seasons but still doesn’t get the credit he deserves, should be inside of the top 10 but is missing off some posters list.

Charlie McAvoy on the other hand seems to be an odd case, though he scored a career high in goals last season, he took a slight hit defensively as he was paired with Grzelcyk then Lohrei towards the end of the season, as he didn’t carry the puck as much and was more into shot suppression in his own end.

I mean McAvoy had been with Gryz for most of his career and carried him to some great metrics until this season. Having a top 9 center group of Coyle (3C), Zacha (2W) and Geekie (4C) just meant the Bruins were defending a lot more out there. Which hurt McAvoy’s numbers and pushed Gryz out the door. When you push the puck to the forwards and it comes right back over and over it’s not playing up to a 5’9” puck movers strengths at all nor did it bring out the best in McAvoy.

 

[hamzarocks]

Okay but theres a bit of a difference in who each was actually facing. They weren't going into the corners against each other, one was up against Hintz, Robertson, Benn and Johnston the other was playing against Mcdavid, Draisaitl, Hyman and Nuge.

No offense to Dallas but playing Hintz and Johnston is quite a bit easier than McDrai.

Draisaitl was a ghost vs Dallas,

Mcdavid was still electric.

Bouchard brought a ton of offense, think he led the oilers that round while being strong in his own zone.

Bouchard just seemed to become more and more dominant in the playoffs as they went on.

If he repeats last year reg season + playoffs would be tough to see him not be ranked top 5ish league wide

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Draisaitl was a ghost vs Dallas,

Mcdavid was still electric.

Bouchard brought a ton of offense, think he led the oilers that round while being strong in his own zone.

Bouchard just seemed to become more and more dominant in the playoffs as they went on.

If he repeats last year reg season + playoffs would be tough to see him not be ranked top 5ish league wide

Yes, he sure was.

 

[jackjohnson]

Did you have Karlsson top-3 after he won the year before?

Not saying I don't have Hughes in my top 3 BTW. Just pointing out it's not always as simple as that sometimes.

Hughes won the Norris and so he is a number 1 D man in the league right now. You guys putting him 5 or 6 or 10 just makes it seem like winning a Norris is nothing. Just because Karlsson won it one time and he did get more than 100 points that season doesnt make this award worthless unless you want to argue against Lidstrom and others winning it. Its only this forum that keeps knocking Hughes down even after a Norris win which i find pathetic. Give credit where credit is due

Op asked for coming year. I think a lot of people don't expect Canucks to shoot at same rate they did last year.

I think Hughes will keep getting better every year. Look at his trajectory. What does Canucks shooting at same rate or not have anything to do with how Hughes plays?