Henkka
Registered User
I did a study.
Here are the results.
Latest Stanley Cup finalists and the background of their best Defencemen at the playoffs:
2006 Carolina
- Comittee defence
TOP2 guys:
- Tomas Kaberle - joined as UFA
- Bret Hedican - acquired via trade
2006 Edmonton
Clear 1st D
- Chris Pronger - acquired via trade
2007 Anaheim
Superstrong TOP3 guys:
- Scott Niedermayer - joined as UFA
- Chris Pronger - acquired via trade
- Francois Beauchemin - acquired via trade
2007 Ottawa
- Comittee defence
- Wade Redden, 2nd overall, 1995
- Anton Volchenkov, 21st overall, 2000
- Chris Phillips, 1st overall, 1996
Lost their former first Defenceman Zdeno Chara in free agency to Boston at summer before the SC Final run.
2008 & 2009 Detroit
TOP2 guys
- Nicklas Lidström, 3rd round pick
- Brian Rafalski, joined as UFA
2008 & 2009 Pittsburgh
Clear 1st D
- Sergei Gonchar, joined as UFA
2010 Chicago
Clear 1st D
- Duncan Keith, 2nd round pick
2010 Philadelphia
TOP2 guys:
- Chris Pronger - acquired via trade
- Kimmo Timonen - acquired via trade
2011 Boston
TOP2 guys:
- Zdeno Chara - joined as UFA
- Dennis Seidenberg - acquired via trade
2011 Vancouver
TOP2 guys (strong TOP4 comittee)
- Kevin Bieksa, 5th round pick
- Christian Ehrhoff, acquired via trade
2012 LA Kings
Clear 1st D
- Drew Doughty - 2nd overall 2008.
2012 New Jersey
Comittee defence
- Bryce Salvador - acquired via trade
- Mark Fayne - 5th round pick
- Andy Greene - college UFA
- Marek Zidlicky - acquired via trade
2013 Chicago
Clear 1st D
- Duncan Keith - 2nd round pick
2013 Boston
Clear 1st D
- Zdeno Chara - joined as UFA
2014 LA Kings
Clear 1st D
- Drew Doughty - 2nd overall 2008.
2014 NY Rangers
Clear 1st D
- Ryan McDonagh - acquired via trade
2015 Chicago
Clear 1st D
- Duncan Keith - 2nd round pick
2015 Tampa Bay
TOP2 guys:
- Victor Hedman - 2nd overall 2009
- Anton Strålman - joined as UFA
2016 Pittsburgh
Clear 1st D
- Kris Letang - 3rd round pick
2016 San Jose
TOP2 guys:
- Brent Burns - acquired via trade
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic - 2nd round pick
2017 Pittsburgh
Comittee defence
- Brian Dumoulin - acquired via trade
- Justin Schultz - acquired via trade
- Ron Hainsey - acquired via trade
2017 Nashville
Superstrong comittee defence
- Roman Josi - 2nd round pick
- PK Subban - acquired via trade
- Mattias Ekholm - 4th round pick
2018 Washington
TOP2 guys
- John Carlson, 1st round 27th overall, 2nd WSH pick at 2008 after a forward taken first.
- Matt Niskanen - joined as UFA
2018 Las Vegas
Comittee defence
- Nate Schmidt - college free agent picked from WSH
- Shea Theodore - 1st round #26 overall picked from ANA
- Brayden McNabb - former 3rd round pick picked from LAK
- Deryk Engelland - former 6th round pick picked from CGY
Mostly the TOP2 was determined as the "best point-scoring Def" and "highest minute-logging Def"
Total:
4x #1-2 overall (Phillips, Redden, Doughty, Hedman)
3x #21-27th overall (Volchenkov, Carlson, Theodore)
4x 2nd round pick (Keith, Vlasic, Josi, “Subban for Weber” who was drafted at 2nd round)
4x 3-4th round pick (Lidström, Letang, Ekholm, McNabb)
3x 5-6-7th round pick (Bieksa, Engelland, Fayne)
8x UFA (Kaberle, Niedermayer, Rafalski, Gonchar, Chara, Greene, Strålman, Niskanen)
2x homegrown college UFA (Greene, Schmidt)
16x acquired via TRADE (Hedican, Pronger, Beacuhemin, Timonen, Seidenberg, Ehrhoff, Salvador, Zidlicky, McDonagh, Burns, Dumoulin, Hainsey, Subban)
6 time a Comittee defence in 2x 13 years (26 cases)
10 times Clear first defenceman
10 times strong TOP2-3.
Okay, so 48 TOTAL most impacted defencemen in Stanley Cup Finalists since the Salary Cap.
- 8,3% (4/48) drafted at TOP3
- 14,6% (7/46) drafted at first round
- 20,8% (10/48) drafted outside of first round
- 20,8% (10/48) joined as UFA
- 33,3% (16/48) acquired via TRADE
So Final conclusion is, that 14,6% of defencemen (every 7th guy) for Stanley Cup finalists come as first round picks, and almost 83,3% come from a different route.
6 times of 26 finalists (23,1%) the Team been build around clear first D.
So what works?
A ) Win a lottery in a draft having a great franchice D.
B) Hunt defencemen at 2-3-4 rounds
C) Draft BPA no matter what the position is and Trade for a defenceman. It's the most common way to get a TOP D for a SC Finalist.
D) Hunt defencemen from free agency.
Here are the results.
Latest Stanley Cup finalists and the background of their best Defencemen at the playoffs:
2006 Carolina
- Comittee defence
TOP2 guys:
- Tomas Kaberle - joined as UFA
- Bret Hedican - acquired via trade
2006 Edmonton
Clear 1st D
- Chris Pronger - acquired via trade
2007 Anaheim
Superstrong TOP3 guys:
- Scott Niedermayer - joined as UFA
- Chris Pronger - acquired via trade
- Francois Beauchemin - acquired via trade
2007 Ottawa
- Comittee defence
- Wade Redden, 2nd overall, 1995
- Anton Volchenkov, 21st overall, 2000
- Chris Phillips, 1st overall, 1996
Lost their former first Defenceman Zdeno Chara in free agency to Boston at summer before the SC Final run.
2008 & 2009 Detroit
TOP2 guys
- Nicklas Lidström, 3rd round pick
- Brian Rafalski, joined as UFA
2008 & 2009 Pittsburgh
Clear 1st D
- Sergei Gonchar, joined as UFA
2010 Chicago
Clear 1st D
- Duncan Keith, 2nd round pick
2010 Philadelphia
TOP2 guys:
- Chris Pronger - acquired via trade
- Kimmo Timonen - acquired via trade
2011 Boston
TOP2 guys:
- Zdeno Chara - joined as UFA
- Dennis Seidenberg - acquired via trade
2011 Vancouver
TOP2 guys (strong TOP4 comittee)
- Kevin Bieksa, 5th round pick
- Christian Ehrhoff, acquired via trade
2012 LA Kings
Clear 1st D
- Drew Doughty - 2nd overall 2008.
2012 New Jersey
Comittee defence
- Bryce Salvador - acquired via trade
- Mark Fayne - 5th round pick
- Andy Greene - college UFA
- Marek Zidlicky - acquired via trade
2013 Chicago
Clear 1st D
- Duncan Keith - 2nd round pick
2013 Boston
Clear 1st D
- Zdeno Chara - joined as UFA
2014 LA Kings
Clear 1st D
- Drew Doughty - 2nd overall 2008.
2014 NY Rangers
Clear 1st D
- Ryan McDonagh - acquired via trade
2015 Chicago
Clear 1st D
- Duncan Keith - 2nd round pick
2015 Tampa Bay
TOP2 guys:
- Victor Hedman - 2nd overall 2009
- Anton Strålman - joined as UFA
2016 Pittsburgh
Clear 1st D
- Kris Letang - 3rd round pick
2016 San Jose
TOP2 guys:
- Brent Burns - acquired via trade
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic - 2nd round pick
2017 Pittsburgh
Comittee defence
- Brian Dumoulin - acquired via trade
- Justin Schultz - acquired via trade
- Ron Hainsey - acquired via trade
2017 Nashville
Superstrong comittee defence
- Roman Josi - 2nd round pick
- PK Subban - acquired via trade
- Mattias Ekholm - 4th round pick
2018 Washington
TOP2 guys
- John Carlson, 1st round 27th overall, 2nd WSH pick at 2008 after a forward taken first.
- Matt Niskanen - joined as UFA
2018 Las Vegas
Comittee defence
- Nate Schmidt - college free agent picked from WSH
- Shea Theodore - 1st round #26 overall picked from ANA
- Brayden McNabb - former 3rd round pick picked from LAK
- Deryk Engelland - former 6th round pick picked from CGY
Mostly the TOP2 was determined as the "best point-scoring Def" and "highest minute-logging Def"
Total:
4x #1-2 overall (Phillips, Redden, Doughty, Hedman)
3x #21-27th overall (Volchenkov, Carlson, Theodore)
4x 2nd round pick (Keith, Vlasic, Josi, “Subban for Weber” who was drafted at 2nd round)
4x 3-4th round pick (Lidström, Letang, Ekholm, McNabb)
3x 5-6-7th round pick (Bieksa, Engelland, Fayne)
8x UFA (Kaberle, Niedermayer, Rafalski, Gonchar, Chara, Greene, Strålman, Niskanen)
2x homegrown college UFA (Greene, Schmidt)
16x acquired via TRADE (Hedican, Pronger, Beacuhemin, Timonen, Seidenberg, Ehrhoff, Salvador, Zidlicky, McDonagh, Burns, Dumoulin, Hainsey, Subban)
6 time a Comittee defence in 2x 13 years (26 cases)
10 times Clear first defenceman
10 times strong TOP2-3.
Okay, so 48 TOTAL most impacted defencemen in Stanley Cup Finalists since the Salary Cap.
- 8,3% (4/48) drafted at TOP3
- 14,6% (7/46) drafted at first round
- 20,8% (10/48) drafted outside of first round
- 20,8% (10/48) joined as UFA
- 33,3% (16/48) acquired via TRADE
So Final conclusion is, that 14,6% of defencemen (every 7th guy) for Stanley Cup finalists come as first round picks, and almost 83,3% come from a different route.
6 times of 26 finalists (23,1%) the Team been build around clear first D.
So what works?
A ) Win a lottery in a draft having a great franchice D.
B) Hunt defencemen at 2-3-4 rounds
C) Draft BPA no matter what the position is and Trade for a defenceman. It's the most common way to get a TOP D for a SC Finalist.
D) Hunt defencemen from free agency.
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