After Karlsson's play last year and now this one the negative narratives are becoming simply petty and show clear bias. Anyone watch even a single playoff game last year? I get how frustrating it is dealing with the regular Doughty<>Karlsson debates.
This year:
55.5 Corsi with a CF% Rel of 9.5 (Absurd)
54.9 Fenwick with a FF% Rel of 8.4
15 TkA - 20 GvA
For sake of comparison: Doughty
52.7 Corsi with a CF% Rel of 4.8
51.3 Fenwick with a FF% Rel of 2.1
4 TkA - 30 GvA (This is a serious issue)
Karlsson right now would likely win Norris again if the season ended today. Multiple articles have just that prediction too including one posted just today by ESPN (Worst of the various sources predicting such). Even after going 10 games without a point still right there in the top 3 for points come defenders. Also plays on a much worse team that completely revolves and sinks/swims based upon his play. He is the sole defender who can easily be argued over Drew as the best in the game. Also the sole defender who can be argued against the likes of McDavid, Crosby, etc. Now I love Doughty and feel he fits our team better. If you had the chance to pair the two you do and figure the CAP out later. When Pronger-Niedermayer, Bourque-Blake, Chelios-Suter, Rafalski-Lidstrom, etc came together they all went to win cup(s) and majority all in the first year they got together.
Can put really anyone with either and they will excel so easy to save CAP there. Doughty+Karlsson+anyone >>> Doughty+Martinez+Muzzin
Yes, and that was literally the only time--last year as a whole--that he played passable defense. It's night and day between last year and this year in his play and it's most likely due to the injury. Don't fall into the trap of thinking his playoff play carried over because he racked up assists when he came back. Even Sens fans will disagree with you that he's in the Norris race at all--see their board and the main board for a real evaluation of his play by the people who see him every night and spent years and years pumping his tires--they're being extremely realistic about him this year.
Do you think Muzzin should have won the 2013 Norris? He was an absurd 60%+ CF%, after all. Similar issues, too--fantastic for 95% of the time, getting turnstiled for a goal against the other 5%. It's nice to tilt the play as a whole in your favor--see what the Kings did on-ice for the last few years--but the goal of the game is to score goals and too often has Erik Karlsson been absurdly terrible at goals against (even relative to his terrible GA team over the years).
It's bias to literally throw a small set of handpicked stats out there to make a guy look better. You can criticise him and still respect the hell out of him and appreciate him, hell we do it around here about our own players all the time, I don't like the idea that breaking down every aspect of a dude's game--which we did, we pinata'ed the hell out of Doughty, karlsson, Burns, Hedman over the last few years--means you don't appreciate them. If anything, you're trying to find the slice of evidence that separates them, because at the very top level--which I think Doughty, EK, Hedman (and Pietrangelo this year) are at--it's very tiny things that separate them. If you didn't respect or appreciate them, why would you look with a fine toothed comb? I don't care to look that hard at, say, Letang, because he's very clearly a tier below in a LOT of areas.
Now hell yeah I'd love him on this team, especially because we can put him in that Voynov slot and turn him absolutely f***ing loose. The guy needs a defensive safety blanket but if we could get him and Drew together it would be superior to even that Pronger-Neidermeyer deal where you have a HoF d-man on the ice for the entire game.
Will never understand the binary mindset that you either praise him uncompromisingly or you hate him, and that's extremely pervasive on this site in particular.
Edit: Copying myself from another thread for sake of a bigger-picture look about context (this is from about a week ago):
| Player | G | A | P | CF% | CF%rel/tm | GF% | GF%rel/tm | TOI/GP | SHTOI/GP | PPTOI/GP | ZSRrel/tm | TOI% QoC |
| Alex Pietrangelo | 7 | 13 | 20 | 52.51 | -0.72 | 64.52 | 10.78 | 25:53 | 2:32 | 4:03 | 3.44 | 29.59 |
| Erik Karlsson | 1 | 16 | 17 | 53.47 | 6.69 | 36.11 | -10.56 | 25:08 | 0:58 | 4:00 | 9.31 | 28.95 |
| John Klingberg | 4 | 20 | 24 | 51.88 | 1.13 | 55.00 | 7.38 | 23:30 | 1:34 | 3:17 | 3.21 | 29.23 |
| Drew Doughty | 4 | 15 | 19 | 52.14 | 3.90 | 57.89 | 4.19 | 26:56 | 3:02 | 3:34 | -3.86 | 29.74 |
| Nick Leddy | 6 | 15 | 21 | 50.57 | 0.15 | 53.85 | -1.71 | 22:09 | 0:14 | 3:43 | 8.36 | 28.98 |
| P.K. Subban | 4 | 14 | 18 | 48.93 | -0.90 | 48.39 | 1.11 | 24:31 | 3:21 | 3:44 | -9.09 | 29.41 |
| Roman Josi | 6 | 11 | 17 | 52.55 | 6.12 | 48.48 | 1.82 | 25:15 | 3:35 | 3:33 | 7.02 | 29.58 |
| Victor Hedman | 2 | 15 | 17 | 50.43 | -0.54 | 48.65 | -13.26 | 25:29 | 2:33 | 3:28 | 6.39 | 29.61 |
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