Giordano ranked as the 19th best d-man in the league.

[Rubi]

NHL Network producers and analysts chose the top 20 defensemen in the League right now. My goodness gracious. Best in 2019 to 19th in 2020.

#NHLTopPlayers: Top Defensemen, Nos. 10-1

#NHLTopPlayers: Top Defensemen, Nos. 20-11

Click to read more...

 

[Dack]

He fell off a bit and some guys got better he's still ranked a lot lower than he should be though. How is he not better than Doughty and Burns? Both of them just had atrocious seasons. They also overrated a few young guys (and John Carlson, who isn't all that good defensively), in reality he's probably just outside the top 10.

 

[Rubi]

He fell off a bit and some guys got better he's still ranked a lot lower than he should be though. How is he not better than Doughty and Burns? Both of them just had atrocious seasons. They also overrated a few young guys (and John Carlson, who isn't all that good defensively), in reality he's probably just outside the top 10.

I put it down to age discrimination.

 

[Tkachuky]

Game 7 Stanley cup final... you take Gio or Makar/Hughes? I don’t get the rankings but alas....

 

[JPeeper]

I'd have him about 14 or 15. Guys like Burns have always been overrated, guys say players like Carlsson can't play defence, watch Burns play, it's a complete disaster.

With that said, this list is 100% invalid complete garbage horseshit when I saw they had f***ing Shea Theodore at 20. The worst player in the history of the sport I have ever watched try and play defence. I will repeat, I have watched hockey for 2+ decades and there is no player in any league who I have ever watched that plays defence worse than Shea Theodore. The guy makes Michael Stone look like Lidstrom in comparison. Theodore is a forward who would make the Kostitsyn brothers look like competent defensive forwards. He is the most overrated player I have ever saw.

 

[Iggys Dome]

I'd have him about 14 or 15. Guys like Burns have always been overrated, guys say players like Carlsson can't play defence, watch Burns play, it's a complete disaster.

With that said, this list is 100% invalid complete garbage horseshit when I saw they had f***ing Shea Theodore at 20. The worst player in the history of the sport I have ever watched try and play defence. I will repeat, I have watched hockey for 2+ decades and there is no player in any league who I have ever watched that plays defence worse than Shea Theodore. The guy makes Michael Stone look like Lidstrom in comparison. Theodore is a forward who would make the Kostitsyn brothers look like competent defensive forwards. He is the most overrated player I have ever saw.

Holy hyperbole.

 

[InfinityIggy]

Honestly at the moment that's about where I would put him too. He is still a fantastic player but he isn't dominant like last year. There are a lot of young, really dominant defenders that have broken out this year.

 

[Iggys Dome]

Honestly at the moment that's about where I would put him too. He is still a fantastic player but he isn't dominant like last year. There are a lot of young, really dominant defenders that have broken out this year.

I’m hoping that this break can rejuvenate him a bit. He was great last year, but noticeably slowed down this year and was just not as effective. To be fair the whole team was in a funk, but I think where Gio goes this team goes. He’s older so hopefully any extended break is bette for him in the long run.

 

[CraigsList]

He was really good during scrimmage, so here's to hoping that Giordano proves the "experts" wrong.

 

[Bounces R Way]

They didn't have him in the top 20 the summer before he won the Norris. Any article the NHL network produces is not to be taken seriously.

 

[apollo18]

i was hoping gio would play like he was in scrimmage but sadly i guess age is getting to him
scrimmage he was good and i was happy but when the games matter and are more challenging, monahan and him decide not to show up

 

[DFF]

unfortunately, that's about right...when was the last time he had a dominant game?

 

[apollo18]

unfortunately, that's about right...when was the last time he had a dominant game?

exactly, the thing is that us flames fans are over rating him so much. yeah sure he had a norris level season last year but we cant expect him to be likfe that every year. he just had a really good year where everything went well. now hes just back to how he was normally like a #1-2 defenseman not a norris #1 defenseman.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

exactly, the thing is that us flames fans are over rating him so much. yeah sure he had a norris level season last year but we cant expect him to be likfe that every year. he just had a really good year where everything went well. now hes just back to how he was normally like a #1-2 defenseman not a norris #1 defenseman.

Giordano had a career season last year, no one will argue that. But he’s been a franchise level dman since Hartley took over the team, back in 2013, which is 7 years ago. His numbers, metrics and the visual test would all rank Gio among the elite blueliners over that time span. Calling him a #2 is a statement that just can’t be taken seriously. That isn’t to say players don’t have dips in their play over periods, but he’s been consistent enough that labelling him as #2 is flat out wrong.

 

[apollo18]

Giordano had a career season last year, no one will argue that. But he’s been a franchise level dman since Hartley took over the team, back in 2013, which is 7 years ago. His numbers, metrics and the visual test would all rank Gio among the elite blueliners over that time span. Calling him a #2 is a statement that just can’t be taken seriously. That isn’t to say players don’t have dips in their play over periods, but he’s been consistent enough that labelling him as #2 is flat out wrong.

fair enough but every flames fan i talk to act like hes a norris #1 since 2013.
but thats besides the point, thing is when the games matter and they actually get harder and tighter he becomes ineffective

 

[Anglesmith]

fair enough but every flames fan i talk to act like hes a norris #1 since 2013.
but thats besides the point, thing is when the games matter and they actually get harder and tighter he becomes ineffective

He was a Norris contender in both 2013-14 and 2014-15, but suffered injuries in both of those seasons. He followed that up with a 21-goal campaign. He suffered through two years of Gulutzan neutering our offence from the blue line, then blew up when unshackled.

During that stretch, even in the Gulutzan years, he consistently made any partner he played with look elite, and his pairing was consistently within the top 3 most effective defence pairings in the league per possession metrics while playing against the toughest matchups in the league. I don't really know why the notion that he's been a Norris-calibre #1 over a longer stretch would offend anyone. His Norris season had his best offensive output, thanks largely to his PP usage, but his overall play had been at that level for years.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

fair enough but every flames fan i talk to act like hes a norris #1 since 2013.
but thats besides the point, thing is when the games matter and they actually get harder and tighter he becomes ineffective

he was one of the best defenceman in the league for a long time.

look at the calibre of roster he’s played on his career. Look at the matchups. And inspite of that he’s a huge + in his career. Mark and Brodie kept the Flames from being a bottom feeder for a long time.

 

[apollo18]

19th rank seems high, more like 59th. garbage shot then a penalty cmon...

 

[DFF]

19th rank seems high, more like 59th. garbage shot then a penalty cmon...

19th in the division

 

[Rubi]

What happened to that Norris stud? Hero to zero in 1 season. I'm befuddled.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

What happened to that Norris stud? Hero to zero in 1 season. I'm befuddled.

More like 5 months.

I think it's partially that he's had nearly zero NHL playoff experience and doesn't know how to adjust to post-season properly, and partially that he's getting older and he is most likely on the other side of prime by now.

 

[Rubi]

More like 5 months.

I think it's partially that he's had nearly zero NHL playoff experience and doesn't know how to adjust to post-season properly, and partially that he's getting older and he is most likely on the other side of prime by now.

He just looks so old and slow out there now. ... and lost. He really looks lost sometimes.

 

[Mobiandi]

He's been bad all season and looks even worse now because the playoffs are a different animal. Brodie has been our #1D since the Avs series

 

[super6646]

He's been bad all season and looks even worse now because the playoffs are a different animal. Brodie has been our #1D since the Avs series

“He’s been bad all season” is a bit of a stretch. He was still a solid #1d who’s offence fell back down to earth. He’s been trash this postseason though, can’t deny that.

 

[apollo18]

“He’s been bad all season” is a bit of a stretch. He was still a solid #1d who’s offence fell back down to earth. He’s been trash this postseason though, can’t deny that.

finally someone with there head on straight,
that last year he had is causing most flames fans to have the wrong vision on him, they expect him to be like that every year
tbh that was kinda like a luck year, everyone was firing on all cylinders

now hes back to being like normal himself which isn't a bad thing