Who are your top 10 defenseman next season?

[Rabid Ranger]

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

Nah.

 

[jackjohnson]

Bouchard about to drop a Norris masterclass in 24/25. He’ll be competing in the top 3 all season long

Thats got to be a joke. Bouchard needs to first improve his defense like Hughes before we even talk about him being top 3 nominee for Norris, nevermind winning it or dropping a "Norris" masterclass. So far he is being baby sat by Ekholm in the defensive zone. I want to see how he would play next to Nurse or Kulak. If he is truely is a Norris winning dman, he would carry his own D pair while Ekholm would be on another D pair.

The top 3 in my list is:

1. Hughes
2. Makar
3. Josi
Those 3 could always change rankings in years to come. I would have Fox and Heiskenin rounding out the top 5.

 

[PaulD]

Thats got to be a joke. Bouchard needs to first improve his defense like Hughes before we even talk about him being top 3 nominee for Norris, nevermind winning it or dropping a "Norris" masterclass. So far he is being baby sat by Ekholm in the defensive zone. I want to see how he would play next to Nurse or Kulak. If he is truely is a Norris winning dman, he would carry his own D pair while Ekholm would be on another D pair.

The top 3 in my list is:

1. Hughes
2. Makar
3. Josi
Those 3 could always change rankings in years to come. I would have Fox and Heiskenin rounding out the top 5.

Sounds about right

 

[BadBruins]

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

I don't know what your beef with McAvoy is, but he's had some great playoff performances as well. He's 26 and has been in the post-season every year of his career. There's a bigger body of work to draw from. McAvoy is the top dog on the Bruins blueline in just about every situation and has been for a very long time. Physically, defensively, offensively. Consistently averaging 25-26 min/game in the post season. The 34 year old Ekholm is still a very good player, but not in the same conversation unfortunately. Not comparing apples to apples.

The no tool box comment is just way off base IMO. All tools, no tool box is usually reserved for a player with skills/talent and no head for the game. Usually those types end up as depth, specialty player, or out of the league entirely.

 

[5 14 6 1]

Makar
Heiskanen
Hughes
Fox
Josi
Bouchard
Slavin
Morissey
Forsling
Hedman/McAvoy/Dobson/Dahlin

 

[5 14 6 1]

I don't. Dahlin on Edmonton would be insane. Just like Hughes/Makar/Heiskanen on Edmonton would also be insane. Those guys would be breaking records.

Like Bouchard broke records?

 

[wintersej]

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.

I mean Makar, Hedman, Josi and Fox are also Norris winners. Miro is an excellent D but it’s harder for two way D that lean D to get the Norris. If Hughes does it again next year, you will have a point. Then he should bump up closer to the top of that group. But, he has been bumped up a few spots in the general consensus here already coming off that win, which is obviously deserved, but it’s not a “who was best last year” list.

As an aside, Forsling is going from massively underrated to a bit overrated. The center group and D around him is pretty pretty good.

 

[5 14 6 1]

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.

He was this good post trade deadline last year, in the playoffs last year and all year and playoffs this year. I will be curious to see how it progresses.

I actually think some people just don't like the way he looks and they also forget he is 24 lol

 

[Xirik]

He was this good post trade deadline last year, in the playoffs last year and all year and playoffs this year. I will be curious to see how it progresses.

I actually think some people just don't like the way he looks and they also forget he is 24 lol

I mean he did take a very odd path to the NHL, I'm pretty sure before his breakout even a lot of Oilers fans thought he was another Oilers draft failure.

 

[Boxscore]

1. Makar
2. Q. Hughes
3. Fox
4. Bouchard
5. Hedman
6. Josi
7. Heiskanen
8. McAvoy
9. Dahlin
10. Morrissey

 

[KrisLetAngry]

About damn time the 2023 Norris winner made a list! HM? Not good enough.

He had a strong first 15 20 games with the Penguins then started playing Sully hockey.

 

[Oleksiak]

seeing your post history and opinion in every Bouchard conversation, im convinced he stole your girl on a night out in Vancouver or something

cry more

Just have zero respect for defencemen who can't play defence. Love having that pylon in the division though; he's the kind of guy you love to play against.

 

[Ita]

Uninteresting if you're not putting this in order. Basically gonna see the same 10 defencemen for 50 posts. Lets see a 1-10 list.

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

Edit: oilers fans. I hold bouchard in high regard. I'd put him at 11 only because of his defensive game. What an offensive weapon, though.

Edit #2: maybe hughes should also be lower because of defence? There really isn’t a right answer here.

I guess you don't watch hughes play. Joke of a list.

 

[KlefDown]

Just have zero respect for defencemen who can't play defence. Love having that pylon in the division though; he's the kind of guy you love to play against.

 

[PaulD]

I don't know what your beef with McAvoy is, but he's had some great playoff performances as well. He's 26 and has been in the post-season every year of his career. There's a bigger body of work to draw from. McAvoy is the top dog on the Bruins blueline in just about every situation and has been for a very long time. Physically, defensively, offensively. Consistently averaging 25-26 min/game in the post season. The 34 year old Ekholm is still a very good player, but not in the same conversation unfortunately. Not comparing apples to apples.

The no tool box comment is just way off base IMO. All tools, no tool box is usually reserved for a player with skills/talent and no head for the game. Usually those types end up as depth, specialty player, or out of the league entirely.

Good post.
Haven't seen it in last 4 rounds. Canes, Panthers, Leafs , Panthers.
Reg season he may have been all that . I must admit I base my opinions on what I see in play offs. When I'm tuned and dialed right in.
Cheers

 

[Fourier]

I mean he did take a very odd path to the NHL, I'm pretty sure before his breakout even a lot of Oilers fans thought he was another Oilers draft failure.

What was odd about his path to the NHL?He played 7 games in his D+1 year then went back to the OHL where he had a solid year but was dominant in the playoffs. After London was eliminated he went to BAK where he put up 8 points in 8 playoff games. In his D+2 year he put up 36 points as a rookie in the AHL which tied for second on the Condors.

The next year was the covid year. He played overseas then was with the Oilers when the season started. He didn't play all that much because Woodcroft was always reluctant to go with younger guys. The next year he put up 43 points as a rookie without much pp time.

Many Oiler fans are notoriously tough on draft choices. Bouchard had a lot of growing to do in his defensive game. A big knock on him was that he seemed not to be very intense on the ice. But that is just his style and his skills offensively have always been obvious.

 

[Idiot Stick]

As an aside, Forsling is going from massively underrated to a bit overrated. The center group and D around him is pretty pretty good.

Hes not even close to being overrated, look at nearly every list on here, maybe listed 4 times and mostly all at the bottom. i can see why he can not be top 10 if offense/points are heavily favored, which most are, but he also starts almost all of his possessions in the defensive zone and doesnt play any PP time and yet is near a 40pt avg.

He plays with ekblad who is good, but has been plagued by injuries and is quite slow. The team plays great defense as a whole so i get that, but still.

He was a key part in why we were the best defensive team in the league, yet is barely mentioned outside of florida fans

 

[I am Canadian]

Josh Morrissey is criminally underrated

 

[wetcoast]

Toews at 24 is so hilariously bad.

It is and it isn't.

There are a lot of really good dmen in the league and Toews, like it or not, is the secondary Dman on the Avs top pairing.

I really like Toews but the ranking for dmen are more fluid and vary year to year than for forwards and he is also 29 and past his peak and on the soft decline.

Still a top 32 Dman to be sure but exactly how high do you think he should be ranked?

Faber at 20 seemed more of a slight to me really but it's hard to quibble with that list as there are alot of very good Dmen in the league.

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

I mean he did take a very odd path to the NHL, I'm pretty sure before his breakout even a lot of Oilers fans thought he was another Oilers draft failure.

The dumb ones did

 

[wintersej]

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.

I think from a team building perspective having your high paid D also be your PP QB is more efficient because one dimensional PP QBs like a Krug/Barrie/Ghost/etc tend to be expensive for what else they bring. PK specialists like a Forbort or whatever are cheap.

If you look at McAvoy or Miro, guys that are adequate but not difference makers on the PP, even if they are equal to Makar/Fox/Hughes/etc in 5 on 5 impact, it gets a little dicey to justify the same contract.

 

[wetcoast]

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.

Morrisey does get under rated and I'll be the first to admit that but Bouchard also gets slammed from too many posters around here his passing skills are elite as are his offensive instincts it's not all MCDrai here.

 

[Killswitch]

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

 

[Imgoingtowork]

1. Hughes
2. Makar
3. Bouchard
4. Lindell
5. Heiskanen
6. Määttä
7. Seider
8. Josi
9. Hedman
10. Gustafsson

 

[ManofSteel55]

Bouchard about to drop a Norris masterclass in 24/25. He’ll be competing in the top 3 all season long

I love how 4 people are laughing at this despite Bouchard finishing 5th in Norris voting last year. Is suggesting he will be top 3 next year really that outlandish?