Who is your team's best defensive forward?

[Roo]

I would say kampf for the leafs.

 

[piqued]

Hintz

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Compher or Copp

 

[tarheelhockey]

In terms of pure matchup defense, Jordan Staal.

Seth Jarvis has a pretty good case in terms of chaotic disruption of the other team.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Probably Zibanejad . His advanced stats don’t really stand out but that’s because I feel like defensive metrics are heavily weighted by possession and he’s an awful possession player but he’s a good defender, works hard in the defensive zone and makes good defensive plays all the time

 

[norrisnick]

Compher or Copp

Can't wait for one of the kids to be 2C so those two can combine with Ras as a real pain in the ass matchup line.

 

[Deadly Dogma]

I would say kampf for the leafs.

IMO its Marner

 

[Roo]

IMO its Marner

Considered him for sure, but went with kampf bc he is so important on defensive faceoffs. Just my opinion, but I feel like anyone in the ‘best defensive forward’ category needs to be a centre given the responsibility of the position. But yeah, Marner is probably next on my list.

 

[Fatass]

Suzuki

Habs aren’t “my” team (hate them actually) but really like Suzuki. IMO he’s a fabulous player, especially without the puck. He’s up there with the best defensively sound forwards in the league.

IMO its Marner

For sure it’s MM. he’s a Selke level forward.

 

[Kingfan1967]

For LA it's still Kopitar, even at 36 he's one of the better defensive centers. Byfield is underrated too. (it's what LA as a team encourages).

 

[Magic Mittens]

Hintz, and then Johnston and Steel

 

[kcunac]

Not sure who it would be on the Canucks, Elias Pettersson or Dakota Joshua I think


Okay now your guys turn, feel free to talk about upcoming two way players or unsung heros of your team as well

2 years ago maybe. Now it’s JT Miller. He’s the one always getting the tough matchups.

 

[Coffees]

2 years ago maybe. Now it’s JT Miller. He’s the one always getting the tough matchups.

Yeah but this year it should be Pettersson getting the hard matchups

For LA it's still Kopitar, even at 36 he's one of the better defensive centers. Byfield is underrated too. (it's what LA as a team encourages).

What makes Kopitar so great ?

IMO its Marner

Marner is a beast

 

[HighNote]

Blues

It's probably Buchnevich, but Thomas is right there and I'd throw Saad into the mix as well.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Mikael Backlund gets some of the toughest matchups year in year out and still puts up Bergeron-like possession numbers. Coleman is pretty damn good too.

 

[BostonBob]

The one Bruin player that everybody loves regardless of what team you cheer for:

 

[Rubi]

A couple of years ago I would have said Elias Lindholm. Now it's definitely Mikael Backlund.

 

[Coffees]

Blues

It's probably Buchnevich, but Thomas is right there and I'd throw Saad into the mix as well.

Saad has always had excellent awareness also Thomas will be the best two way forward next year no doubt. Dudes got the right mentality

Mikael Backlund gets some of the toughest matchups year in year out and still puts up Bergeron-like possession numbers. Coleman is pretty damn good too.

both these players are absolutely perfect for the rebuild to bring up the future Flames.

Already a great ground work for the Flames when you throw in the prospect pipeline from the backend

 

[Craig Button]

Marner AINEC

 

[Fatass]

Marner AINEC

Marner is soooo good. Crazy how some Leaf’s fans want to trade him. Stupid actually. Can rarely replace such players. Have the Habs replaced Gainy?

 

[BonMorrison]

Homie who dropped that gif about Brown got ratio’d and then never came back to the thread, eh? Love to see it.

 

[57special]

We have a lot of turnover in the bottom 6 but of players that were on the team last year and still are this year, it might just be Zach Benson. Either him or Greenway.

That you might pick Greenway as your best defensive forward tells me why the Sabres always seem be less than the sum of their parts. I thought Cozens was decent defensively? Greenway was out of shape, lazy, and inconsistent for MN.

For MN, it's easy. JEE all day long. Could be better on FO's... that's about it. I mean, if he had better speed he could cover McDavid and Mackinnon better, but those are two of the fastest players in the history of the game.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Cirelli.

 

[pi314]

Hmm.. I’d say Rust or Eller. Maybe a newcomer like Lizotte proves to be better.

87 for the Pens

 

[JaegerDice]

Teuvo Teravainen right now, though the obvious hope is that Moore grows into the role of a Kesler-esque 2C.