Islanders Point Blank: THW rank Leddy 9th best DMan in NHL.

[SI90]

Leddys PP minutes imo are greatly affected because 1- Boychucks point shot and 2- Weight likes 4 forwards on the PP.

If it were up to me Leddy would be quarterbacking our PP. He's extremley smart with the puck and always finds lanes to send the puck to the net. Not to mention his elite skating allows him to recover if the PK forward steals the puck.

I think the PP with Leddy and Pulock on the Point would be a lot better than Neilsen and BOYCHUCK. I would move Johnny rocket to the #2 PP unit and give him more even strength and PK minutes.

 

[Sheva7]

I don't get ow someone who got to watch Leddy all year can't see how great he is.

Some fans live in Capuanoland - where Hamonic is the undisputed #1 dman, Matt Martin is untouchable, Grabner is the water boy, Visnovsky ties Straits skates before games, and Lee sits and takes notes on how well Colin McDonald 'competes'.

 

[Tavares2TheRescue]

I like the attention but they also have Anton Stralman as the #10 dman in the league and Jake Muzzin as #6

I've got news for you buddy, they're both really freakin' good.

 

[Darth Milbury]

Ryan McDonagh is not better than Nick Leddy (or Johnny Boychuk, for that matter). Hamonic is also nowhere near the quality of player Leddy is. If you consider that Letang has trouble staying healthy now, then Leddy is easily the best defenseman in the division, let alone the tri-state. I don't get ow someone who got to watch Leddy all year can't see how great he is.

There aren't any fact here in your post, just opinions, and not very objective opinions at that (although I guess "objective opinion" is kind of an oxymoron).

I've watched RM for years, and I've watched Hamonic and Leddy.

Leddy is not a "great" defensemen, I'm sorry but that is a little hometown bias. He's a very good defensemen, with some real strengths to his game, and his game has rounded out nicely. Right now though, he isn't in the same league as RM. And, I would go so far as to say that there isn't a single objective observer who would give Leddy the nod in that comparison. Frankly, its not even close right now.

RM is also way better than Boychuk, who tends to be slightly overrated by Islander fans.

And, personally, if I had to choose among our top three defenders (all of whom I see as being at similar levels overall), I'd probably rate Leddy third. Given that our own management seems to agree with me, it appears that I am not alone in that perception.

 

[Darth Milbury]

Leddys PP minutes imo are greatly affected because 1- Boychucks point shot and 2- Weight likes 4 forwards on the PP.

If it were up to me Leddy would be quarterbacking our PP. He's extremley smart with the puck and always finds lanes to send the puck to the net. Not to mention his elite skating allows him to recover if the PK forward steals the puck.

I think the PP with Leddy and Pulock on the Point would be a lot better than Neilsen and BOYCHUCK. I would move Johnny rocket to the #2 PP unit and give him more even strength and PK minutes.

I agree with all of this.

 

[Darth Milbury]

I've got news for you buddy, they're both really freakin' good.

Yes, they are. None are top 10 defenders though.

 

[YearlyLottery]

Leddy is a damn good defensemen but we have not had a #1 defensemen in a loooonnnngggg time. Leddy could be a #2 for sure and I have full confidence he may be seen as that as early as next season. Leddy is a great puck mover which makes him invaluable to this hockey team.

Is he a Doughty? Is he a Weber? Is he even a Boychuk defensively? No... At least not yet.

I agree with Darth on this whole subject.

 

[Sorge Georos]

How about this: Nick Leddy was NOT "phenomenal" and guys like you vastly overrate him.

He was a very solid two-way defender with excellent skating, very good puck carrying and reads, and a limited physical game. He's not a star level defensemen though, anything close to elite (or even semi elite), he doesn't dominate in any zone of the ice and using words like "phenomenal" to describe him is hyperbole to say the least.. He's not even close to being the best defensemen in the metro area. Heck, he's not even the unequivocal best defender for the Isles. He might not even be in the top two on the Island.

The thing that folk here seem to lose sight of with all these glowing evaluations of Leddy is that the Isles had one of the worst defenses in the league last season, and also a horrendous PK. Our blueline needs work, and part of the problem might be that we don't have any elite talent there - just three solid guys who would likely not even be top pairing on better teams.


Now, maybe a de Haan will take the next step and fill out our top four. But, we are maybe one injury on the blueline away from playing Hickey 25 minutes a night - and that doesn't leave me feeling all that comfortable.

There's really not much substance to this argument. The basic message I get from this is Nick Leddy isn't a #1 because it bucks the consensus.

More evidence, less "because I say so."

 

[Lame Lambert]

There's really not much substance to this argument. The basic message I get from this is Nick Leddy isn't a #1 because it bucks the consensus.

More evidence, less "because I say so."

ITT: Nick Leddy isn't the best defenseman on the team because he isn't 6'3" 220 lbs. Still waiting for someone to put up a factual argument as to why he isn't our number 1.

 

[YearlyLottery]

ITT: Nick Leddy isn't the best defenseman on the team because he isn't 6'3" 220 lbs. Still waiting for someone to put up a factual argument as to why he isn't our number 1.

It depends on the situation IMO. He fits in perfectly with our system but he isn't a #1 defensemen compared to some other guys.

 

[Lame Lambert]

It depends on the situation IMO. He fits in perfectly with our system but he isn't a #1 defensemen compared to some other guys.

I'm talking about our team. Obviously he wouldn't be #1 on every team but he'd be a #1 on a lot of teams.

 

[Sorge Georos]

ITT: Nick Leddy isn't the best defenseman on the team because he isn't 6'3" 220 lbs. Still waiting for someone to put up a factual argument as to why he isn't our number 1.

Some guys obsess with size to the point that it clouds what actually occurs on ice. Not every defenseman has to be Derian Hatcher out there.

 

[Sorge Georos]

I like the attention but they also have Anton Stralman as the #10 dman in the league and Jake Muzzin as #6

Don't immediately dismiss them because they aren't big names. Disagreement is fine as long as you put in the analysis.

 

[Sorge Georos]

One last thing: Player deployment is the responsibility of the coach and does not perfectly correlate with a player's skill.

Of course the best players tend to get more ice-time, not denying that. But some coaches prefer to roll pairings more evenly than others.

Look at the Spurs. Timmy Duncan never plays that many minutes anymore but he is still arguably the Spurs' best player. Manu Ginobli came off the bench for most of his career but he is a HOF caliber player.

Oh how I wish we had Pop...

 

[PK Cronin]

One last thing: Player deployment is the responsibility of the coach and does not perfectly correlate with a player's skill.

Of course the best players tend to get more ice-time, not denying that. But some coaches prefer to roll pairings more evenly than others.

Look at the Spurs. Timmy Duncan never plays that many minutes anymore but he is still arguably the Spurs' best player. Manu Ginobli came off the bench for most of his career but he is a HOF caliber player.

Oh how I wish we had Pop...

Then you have Capuano playing Strait for 18 minutes in games.

 

[Darth Milbury]

I'm talking about our team. Obviously he wouldn't be #1 on every team but he'd be a #1 on a lot of teams.

I'm not sure that means much. Bozak was a number 1 center on the Leafs and Justin Schultz was effectively the Oilers number 1.


There are certainly teams that would put Leddy in that role, that doesn't mean he has the skillset or that it would be a sensible positioning.

Leddy is much more of a 2/3 guy, maybe even a 4 guy on some teams.


He's a quality guy, for sure, just not the semi-elite player many here seem to want to portray him as....

 

[Darth Milbury]

There's really not much substance to this argument. The basic message I get from this is Nick Leddy isn't a #1 because it bucks the consensus.

More evidence, less "because I say so."

I've not seen any evidence in your posts, just snitty attacks.

 

[islandermaniac]

I've not seen any evidence in your posts, just snitty attacks.

here is some evidence to support leddy as the best d-man on the roster. it's actually my post from another thread. you ignored this post probably because i provided information from nhl.com that disproved your erroneous claim that leddy had 9 points in his final 20 games. here is the post in its entirety:

where are you getting your statistics from? here are leddy's last 20 games played. i highlighted the points scored column because i'm sure the copy and paste i just pulled from nhl.com won't look quite right:

G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG S S% Shifts TOI PPP
Apr 11 '15 CBJ @ NYI 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 6 0.0 26 22:40 0
Apr 10 '15 NYI @ PIT 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 28 24:07 0
Apr 7 '15 NYI @ PHI 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 22 22:13 1
Apr 4 '15 BUF @ NYI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 17:57 0
Apr 2 '15 NYI @ CBJ 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 2 0.0 22 22:10 0
Mar 29 '15 DET @ NYI 0 2 2 -1 2 0 0 1 0.0 24 19:53 2
Mar 28 '15 ANA @ NYI 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 3 0.0 23 23:11 0
Mar 26 '15 LAK @ NYI 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 3 0.0 24 23:03 0
Mar 24 '15 MIN @ NYI 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.0 30 26:24 0
Mar 21 '15 NYI @ NJD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 21:18 0
Mar 9 '15 NYI @ TOR 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 13 12:52 0
Mar 7 '15 NYI @ FLA 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 50.0 24 21:09 1
Mar 5 '15 NYI @ NSH 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 4 25.0 26 21:08 1
Mar 3 '15 NYI @ DAL 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0.0 26 21:22 0
Feb 28 '15 CAR @ NYI 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 18:52 0
Feb 27 '15 CGY @ NYI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 18:42 0
Feb 24 '15 ARI @ NYI 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0.0 20 19:07 0
Feb 22 '15 VAN @ NYI 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0.0 22 20:38 0
Feb 21 '15 NYI @ WSH 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0.0 26 23:00 0
Feb 19 '15 NSH @ NYI 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 2 50.0 22 20:37 1

so, one more time, 15 points in his final 20 regular season games played. and as you alluded to, 5 points in 7 playoff games. that's 20 points in his final 27 games of the season. that's a 60 point pace.

Second paragraph: the only reason i am bringing this up is because you said that there wasn't a single situation where you take leddy over boychuk. i called b.s. on that. anyone would clearly take leddy over boychuk in a situation that required a player to skate the puck out of trouble. you would as well even it you would rather not admit it.

third paragraph: what i've said regarding "elite" is that leddy's production over his final 27 games is "elite" for a d-man. a 60 point pace is, in fact, "elite." that's not an opinion considering that there were only 3 d-men in the league to post 60 points or above last year.

 

[duster19]

Ryan McDonagh is not better than Nick Leddy (or Johnny Boychuk, for that matter). Hamonic is also nowhere near the quality of player Leddy is. If you consider that Letang has trouble staying healthy now, then Leddy is easily the best defenseman in the division, let alone the tri-state. I don't get ow someone who got to watch Leddy all year can't see how great he is.

i thunk their is an argument in leddy over McDonagh. However, I would take McDonagh all day, every day over Johnny Boychuk.

 

[Sorge Georos]

I've not seen any evidence in your posts, just snitty attacks.

Eye test with the stats to validate my observations

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

Leddy is a very good defenseman, with a skillset different than Boychuk and Hamonic. If he were more assertive while carrying the puck, we might see a little bit of Denis Potvin Lite-but he will not be a number 1. Anyone who saw Duncan Keith during the playoffs knows what a number 1 guy looks like, at both ends of the ice.
IMHO, we beat the Caps if Travis is not hurt. He is our number 1 right now, and our coaches need to get him to realize that he is a stay at home guy. CDH pairs with him better than anyone else, so hopefully Cappy will just staple them together(like they did with Boychuk and Leddy) and work on the third pairing.

 

[BroadwayJay*]

How many slots ahead of Leddy did Strait fall on the list?

 

[ThreeLeftSkates]

How many slots ahead of Leddy did Strait fall on the list?

I think Strait won the Norris Trophy.

 

[Darth Milbury]

Eye test with the stats to validate my observations

Your personal "eye test" is not evidence of anything. We've all watched Leddy play too. And advanced stats are subject to interpretation and debate. Like I said, not a wit of evidence in your posts. Just a snitty attitude and somehow holding up your personal hometown evaluation to be truth

 

[YearlyLottery]

here is some evidence to support leddy as the best d-man on the roster. it's actually my post from another thread. you ignored this post probably because i provided information from nhl.com that disproved your erroneous claim that leddy had 9 points in his final 20 games. here is the post in its entirety:

where are you getting your statistics from? here are leddy's last 20 games played. i highlighted the points scored column because i'm sure the copy and paste i just pulled from nhl.com won't look quite right:

G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG S S% Shifts TOI PPP
Apr 11 '15 CBJ @ NYI 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 6 0.0 26 22:40 0
Apr 10 '15 NYI @ PIT 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 28 24:07 0
Apr 7 '15 NYI @ PHI 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 22 22:13 1
Apr 4 '15 BUF @ NYI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 17:57 0
Apr 2 '15 NYI @ CBJ 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 2 0.0 22 22:10 0
Mar 29 '15 DET @ NYI 0 2 2 -1 2 0 0 1 0.0 24 19:53 2
Mar 28 '15 ANA @ NYI 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 3 0.0 23 23:11 0
Mar 26 '15 LAK @ NYI 0 0 0 -2 2 0 0 3 0.0 24 23:03 0
Mar 24 '15 MIN @ NYI 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.0 30 26:24 0
Mar 21 '15 NYI @ NJD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 21:18 0
Mar 9 '15 NYI @ TOR 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 13 12:52 0
Mar 7 '15 NYI @ FLA 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 50.0 24 21:09 1
Mar 5 '15 NYI @ NSH 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 4 25.0 26 21:08 1
Mar 3 '15 NYI @ DAL 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0.0 26 21:22 0
Feb 28 '15 CAR @ NYI 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 18:52 0
Feb 27 '15 CGY @ NYI 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 18:42 0
Feb 24 '15 ARI @ NYI 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0.0 20 19:07 0
Feb 22 '15 VAN @ NYI 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0.0 22 20:38 0
Feb 21 '15 NYI @ WSH 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0.0 26 23:00 0
Feb 19 '15 NSH @ NYI 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 2 50.0 22 20:37 1

so, one more time, 15 points in his final 20 regular season games played. and as you alluded to, 5 points in 7 playoff games. that's 20 points in his final 27 games of the season. that's a 60 point pace.

Second paragraph: the only reason i am bringing this up is because you said that there wasn't a single situation where you take leddy over boychuk. i called b.s. on that. anyone would clearly take leddy over boychuk in a situation that required a player to skate the puck out of trouble. you would as well even it you would rather not admit it.

third paragraph: what i've said regarding "elite" is that leddy's production over his final 27 games is "elite" for a d-man. a 60 point pace is, in fact, "elite." that's not an opinion considering that there were only 3 d-men in the league to post 60 points or above last year.

Just because Leddy scored 20 points in the final 27 games does not mean he was on pace for 60 points.. It means it was a nice hot streak he was having. All players go through this.