Still no1? Despite serious surgery and no pre season Karlsson’s once again leading all D-men in ppg

Still no 1 D in the NHL?


  • Total voters
    88

Ben White

Registered User
Dec 28, 2015
4,596
1,617
Serious foot injury
Advanced surgery
No pre season
Physically not even close to his normal self

Yet, leading all Dmen in points per game

Is he still the best D in the NHL?
 

Iceman

Registered User
Jun 9, 2014
10,640
2,024
He got more offensive talent in his fingertip than half the league but his two-way game has been a bit dodgy since coming back from surgery the games I’ve seen with him. He’ll probably get back into shape all around eventually.
 

joe dirte

Registered User
Sep 28, 2017
9,430
3,559
He got more offensive talent in his fingertip than half the league but his two-way game has been a bit dodgy since coming back from surgery the games I’ve seen with him. He’ll probably get back into shape all around eventually.
it's always been dodgy.
 

bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
22,078
14,589
voted option 3.

yes I still call him the best defenseman. He 100% gets the benefit of the doubt for one off year, and anyone who disagrees simply doesn't understand hockey. But he's certainly not been the best this year, so option 3 makes more sense than option 1 for me. Surprised option 3 has least votes.
 

triggrman

Where is Hipcheck85
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May 8, 2002
31,627
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voted option 3.

yes I still call him the best defenseman. He 100% gets the benefit of the doubt for one off year, and anyone who disagrees simply doesn't understand hockey. But he's certainly not been the best this year, so option 3 makes more sense than option 1 for me. Surprised option 3 has least votes.
Sure bud.
 

LeafGrief

Shambles in my brain
Apr 10, 2015
7,616
9,532
Ottawa
If his defense hasn't been good this year, then he hasn't been the best defenseman in the league. He was the best defenseman in the league last year though, 100%. I'd put my money on him being the best defenseman in the league next year too.
 

Bjornar Moxnes

Stem Rødt og Felix Unger Sörum
Oct 16, 2016
11,490
3,942
Troms og Finnmark
Karlsson has some of the best suppression stats in the entire league and that's while lodging insane minutes. For those that bring up his goals against, there are five other players on the same team on the ice most of the time. Besides Ekholm, Spurgeon, Slavin, etc. who are well known as "shutdown Dman" also have noticeably poor goals against metrics as well. What does that say about them?
 
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Ben White

Registered User
Dec 28, 2015
4,596
1,617
If his defense hasn't been good this year, then he hasn't been the best defenseman in the league. He was the best defenseman in the league last year though, 100%. I'd put my money on him being the best defenseman in the league next year too.

I sort of agree, however his defense always relied more on his speed than his offense. The exact same thing happened after his achilles tendon, he still scored points but his defense got much worse. He played his best D in 2013 (and offense) pre injury. Last year, 4 years after that injury, he finally found a way to play (almost) as good with lesser speed at both ends of the ice, this new foot injury was really unfortunate.
 

bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
22,078
14,589
Sure bud.

Do you think he was the best defenseman 1 year ago?

If so - if you think he shouldn't be called the best anymore - I maintain you don't understand hockey. Track record/grace period is a thing. Give him the benefit of the doubt at least until next year, as he's earned it. Similar to how it's ok to call Crosby the best player in the world today even with somewhat of an off year, similar to how it's ok to have called Ovechkin the best goal-scorer in the world last year despite an off season.

If you don't think he was the best defenseman 1 year ago well....that's fine, different story
 

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