Teh barrrrrzzzzz:This was an excerpt from a recent Athletic article;
15. Offensive players usually get all the hype, so I wanted to shed some light on a defensive star this year: Minnesota’s Jonas Brodin. Based on RAPM (a fancy play-driving metric that uses regression to determine which players are responsible), Brodin has saved the Wild 69 shot attempts (1st), four expected goals (1st) and just over two actual goals (13th) above average. He’s one of just two defensemen to rank in the top 15 in all three categories, with the other being Boston’s Brandon Carlo. If there were to be an award for best defensive defenseman this year, those two would arguably be the most worthy.
It would be Brodin’s to lose though as he’s head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the chances his team surrenders while he’s on the ice. The Wild have the league’s second-lowest expected goals against per 60 behind only Boston and Brodin is a big part of that.
By eye-test or bar-test: he has been very good even by his own standards.