Esa Lindell - one of the best kept secrets in the league?

[hellvetet]

I feel like Lindell can do whatever the team needs at any given moment to a standard that does not hurt your chances. He is not your typical shutdown dman or offensive dman but his resume is slowly starting to fill with succeeding in various roles.

His last year in Finland was a superb showing as a #1 dman who excelled at transition, crisp outlet passes and PP traits. After moving to NA, Lindell has found a new role to excel at - a balancing first pair all-round dman with more focus on the defensive aspects of the game. As a Blues fan his low key, yet effective PK presence leaves me impressed all the time. A good balance of stick work and boxing out taking out the majority of high danger options from the opposing forwards. I guess it's no surprise the Stars lately played Lindell like 6 out of 7 minutes in the dying minutes of a game they were leading by a slim margin while killing a few penalties. This is not something he could have done while winning the dman of the year award in Finland.

I see a lot of Alex Pietrangelo in him and would not be surprised to see him as a decent 50 point all around #1 dman in a few years. Reaching that level probably requires Heiskanen and/or Klingberg crashing and burning or Lindell getting traded though...

Click to read more...

 

[Kcb12345]

Shhhhh

Jk but I think ~30-35 points a season will be his regular production throughout his career with Klingberg and Heiskanen on the team.

But man, the minutes he plays and the PK minutes especially, he has a massive role on this team and is a huge part of our success. Doesn't have the offensive abilities to be a #1 imo but he can play on your top pairing no problem. Everyone's always talking about your Slavin's and Ekholm's and I've just been over here quietly mentioning Lindell's name for a long time now.

What's with all the Dallas threads though jeez talk about the team being jinxed going into round 2

 

[Zub]

He sure has surprised me alot. Way better performance than i expected from him all around.

 

[FinnishSniper]

Shhhhh

Jk but I think ~30-35 points a season will be his regular production throughout his career with Klingberg and Heiskanen on the team.

But man, the minutes he plays and the PK minutes especially, he has a massive role on this team and is a huge part of our success. Doesn't have the offensive abilities to be a #1 imo but he can play on your top pairing no problem. Everyone's always talking about your Slavin's and Ekholm's and I've just been over here quietly mentioning Lindell's name for a long time now.

What's with all the Dallas threads though jeez talk about the team being jinxed going into round 2

You guys have a really solid core in Kling, Miro and Lindell!

 

[Skeletorrr]

Modern day Teppo Numminen?
Top pairing D-man who doesn't really have any flashy or spectacular elements in his game. Great stick work, good passing skills and an deceptively good shot on the PP.
The only knock on him is that he can never compete with Teppo's hair game, nor be the sexiest man in Finland.

 

[izzy]

yeah hes a machine. a lot of games ive watched of dallas the last couple seasons he has been their best player, not just best dman.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Modern day Teppo Numminen?
Top pairing D-man who doesn't really have any flashy or spectacular elements in his game. Great stick work, good passing skills and an deceptively good shot on the PP.
The only knock on him is that he can never compete with Teppo's hair game, nor be the sexiest man in Finland.

I really like this comparison, right down to the 'who?' factor, haha.

 

[badboy1994]

Nice to see a blues fan see this. Lots of people in the Stars Vs Blues section has called Lindell trash when in reality he is a top 15, arguably top 10 Dman in the NHL.

 

[East Coast Icestyle]

I see anton stralman when I watch him if I'm honest.

 

[serp]

He a horse . Seemingly never really gets tired. Play him 2 minutes straight on the PK ? No problem.

Just very solid all around. Not the most creative playmaker but thats what Klingberg is for.

 

[stl76]

Nice to see a blues fan see this. Lots of people in the Stars Vs Blues section has called Lindell trash when in reality he is a top 15, arguably top 10 Dman in the NHL.

Lindell is a fantastic dman, definitely underrated. I think he is a better dman than Klingberg.

There is no argument by which he is a top 10 dman in the NHL

 

[badboy1994]

Lindell is a fantastic dman, definitely underrated.

There is no argument by which he is a top 10 dman in the NHL

Name 15 better ?

 

[Kcb12345]

Nice to see a blues fan see this. Lots of people in the Stars Vs Blues section has called Lindell trash when in reality he is a top 15, arguably top 10 Dman in the NHL.

He's not a top 15 dman. If I had more time I'd easily name 15 better, and more than that. He doesn't have the offensive abilities or ability to drive the play that could to put him up there.

And I'm a Stars fan

 

[badboy1994]

He's not a top 15 dman. If I had more time I'd easily name 15 better, and more than that. He doesn't have the offensive abilities or ability to drive the play that could to put him up there.

And I'm a Stars fan

If I could only keep one guy, im keeping Lindell over Klingberg and I would concider Klinger a top 15. Guess we just disagree

 

[stl76]

Name 15 better ?

Lol you serious?

Ok, off the top of my head in no particular order:

Hedman
Burns
Doughty
Karlsson
Suter
Pietrangelo
Josi
Jones
Weber
OEL
Byfuglien
Rielly
Slavin
Carlson
Giordano

There’s 15. Now you tell me which SIX of those players Esa Lindell is better than.

 

[badboy1994]

Lol you serious?

Ok, off the top of my head in no particular order:

Hedman
Burns
Doughty
Karlsson
Suter
Pietrangelo
Josi
Jones
Weber
OEL
Byfuglien
Rielly
Slavin
Carlson
Giordano

There’s 15. Now you tell me which SIX of those players Esa Lindell is better than.

I’ll take Lindell over Weber, OEL, Slavin and Byfuglien ... He isn’t that far away from Josi, Carlson, Suter or Pietrangelo either.


And if we are going by this year only, lindell is in the top 5 honestly.

 

[stl76]

If I could only keep one guy, im keeping Lindell over Klingberg and I would concider Klinger a top 15. Guess we just disagree

Well there's your problem.

 

[crackdown44]

I’ll take Lindell over Weber, OEL, Slavin and Byfuglien ... He isn’t that far away from Josi, Carlson, Suter or Pietrangelo either.


And if we are going by this year only, lindell is on the top 5 honestly.

Well then many teams are lucky you are not managing them

 

[badboy1994]

Well then many teams are lucky you are not managing them

I’ll even take it a step further, 2 min left in the Stanley cup championship game and you are up by one. Lindell would be chosen to defend the lead out of everyone.

My two picks would be Gio and Lindell

 

[stl76]

I’ll take Lindell over Weber, OEL, Slavin and Byfuglien ... He isn’t that far away from Josi, Carlson, Suter or Pietrangelo either.


And if we are going by this year only, lindell is in the top 5 honestly.

I don't think there is anything to be gained or learned from further discussion with you on this matter. Enjoy watching Lindell play, he really is a very good player.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

Lol you serious?

Ok, off the top of my head in no particular order:

Hedman
Burns
Doughty
Karlsson
Suter
Pietrangelo
Josi
Jones
Weber
OEL
Byfuglien
Rielly
Slavin
Carlson
Giordano

There’s 15. Now you tell me which SIX of those players Esa Lindell is better than.

Letang should be in there over Slavin, and Byfuglien,

 

[CartographerNo611]

Yes, reminds me a lot of prime Vlasic.

 

[Kairi Zaide]

I’ll take Lindell over Weber, OEL, Slavin and Byfuglien ... He isn’t that far away from Josi, Carlson, Suter or Pietrangelo either.


And if we are going by this year only, lindell is in the top 5 honestly.

??????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Letang should be in there over Slavin, and Byfuglien,

Not a chance. If we're talking purely offensive skill, yeah - but Letang's defense has been perpetually overrated and there's example after example of teams abusing his poor defensive play, especially in the playoffs. If he can handle the puck and skate it up the ice, great; if he's got to battle to keep the opposition from running things on offense, he's no better than mediocre and semi-regularly poor.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

Not a chance. If we're talking purely offensive skill, yeah - but Letang's defense has been perpetually overrated and there's example after example of teams abusing his poor defensive play, especially in the playoffs. If he can handle the puck and skate it up the ice, great; if he's got to battle to keep the opposition from running things on offense, he's no better than mediocre and semi-regularly poor.

Im not sure if you watch him but he faces the hardest match ups and puts up great numbers. He is a great two way force and was has way more Norris votes in his career than either of those players

I guarantee that in a poll that he would place in the top 10-15 over those players