Striiker
Former Flyers Fan
I mean, years is a bit of an exaggeration. Provorov was clearly better in 16-17 after the first month or so when he got adjusted to the speed of the NHL.
He was our best in 15-16 by a wide margin and I would say by a very narrow margin over Provorov in 17-18.
This year, Sanheim and Gudas have been our best 2 defensemen. Provorov is rounding into form and was phenomenal last night. Ghost is still kind of fighting it this season. Still think injury could be a factor though. That combined with the MacDonald factor.
Ghost was recovering from injury/surgery in 16-17, same as Giroux, and even then he managed to be 24th in D scoring. The other two years aren't even close.
This year is a complete fluke, helped by a million terrible things screwing him over. And even still, I'd easily put him at 2nd best after Sanheim. Provorov was even worse up until a week or so ago (now he's playing well) and Gudas is just as mistake prone with none of the upside.