Hedman vs Tavares

[LordNeverLose]

Just gonna throw it out there that while Hedman is better now, Tavares was better up until like 2 or 3 years ago. The first 5 years of a career count, too.

 

[93LEAFS]

Tavares, you got more value out of him early on.

If you are asking me who I would take from now going forward? That's much more difficult to answer.

 

[olli]

#1C difference makers are more difficult to come by - albeit the margin is getting smaller. Tavares #1

Tavares can still will a team to marginal success - Hedman honestly does not do a whole lot for Tampa without their explosive offense (nothing against him). The team who drafts Hedman still searches for #1C afterward.

It goes both ways. The team who drafts Tavares still searches for a #1D afterwords.

 

[olli]

Tavares, you got more value out of him early on.

If you are asking me who I would take from now going forward? That's much more difficult to answer.

Its Hedman ainec if you include contracts.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I'd take Hedman at 27 vs JT at 27, but if they were both 18 i'd take JT. Hedman is a Norris caliber dman but he took a while to develop (5 years). JT was an impact player right away, and as likely the worst team in the league you'd want someone like that.

 

[Critical13]

Hedman? Really?

It's Johnny T.

I don't quite understand how Tavares is winning this poll.

Hedman is a top 3 D man in the league, Tavares isn't even close to being a top 5 Center.

What does that have to do with anything?

Where they stand amongst their peers at position is not relevent. I would take the 10th ranked C over the 9th ranked W.

Your top C is so crucial. Pittsbrugh won cups with no real top pairing D. Red Wings stayed relevent after Lidstrom left because their C depth. Teams can win with no #1D, but not many teams get far without #1C.

 

[Yamazaki]

JT. Personally I take a #1 C over a #1 dman

 

[Cor]

I wonder what happened between June 27th and now to change these results...

 

[Garthinater]

I wonder what happened between June 27th and now to change these results...

Both are after the awards ceramony so i dont think its that.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

It was Hedman for me on day 1 and it still is IMO.

 

[ACC1224]

Tough to compare the two and depending on your Team you can't really go wrong with either choice.
Voted Hedman.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

Defense has a bigger overall impact on the game, and Hedman is a better defenseman than Tavares is a forward.

Hedman.

 

[BAM]

Defense has a bigger overall impact on the game, and Hedman is a better defenseman than Tavares is a forward.

Hedman.

Then why didn't Nashville win the cup last year? Why don't Hedman, Karlsson, Josi, Subban, Suter, Weber have any cups?

 

[VinikToWinIt]

Then why didn't Nashville win the cup last year? Why don't Hedman, Karlsson, Josi, Subban, Suter, Weber have any cups?

Why didn’t Toronto win the cup last year? Why don’t McDavid, Matthews, MacKinnon, Tavares, Stamkos, Hall have any cups?

 

[Martin Skoula]

Why didn’t Toronto win the cup last year? Why don’t McDavid, Matthews, MacKinnon, Tavares, Stamkos, Hall have any cups?

Because Pittsburgh and Washington had better center depth over the past 3 years.

8/20 of NHL.com's top-20 center rankings for this year have cups vs 4 of the top-20 ranked D.

You don't need a superstar on D to win. It's easier to win with a solid group of good D playing the right system with elite centers than it is with a star D or two and a solid group of 50-60 point forwards.

 

[BAM]

Why didn’t Toronto win the cup last year? Why don’t McDavid, Matthews, MacKinnon, Tavares, Stamkos, Hall have any cups?

McDavid has been in the league for 3 years, Matthews 2, Mackinnon is 23. Crosby, Kane, Toews, Malkin, Kessel, Ovi, Backstrom have all won cups. The top 5 forwards in the league have all won cups McDavid aside although it would impact his reputation if he never won any cups in his career. Star talent up front matters far more than star talent on the back end. Pittsburgh and Washington won with average 1's but had elite forward talent. You'd be hard pressed to find a team that can win with great defense but poor offense.

 

[Halla]

Tavares. He has had the better career. right now its 1C vs 1D but Hedman didnt even sniff 30pts until his 5th season

Tavares has basically been elite for 8 of his 9 years, hedman 5 outta 9

 

[Halla]

Defense has a bigger overall impact on the game, and Hedman is a better defenseman than Tavares is a forward.

Hedman.

a 1D is = a 1C

kinda silly to say defense has a bigger impact when the last 3 cup winners had #1Dmen of Kris Letang and John Carlson.

Crosby,Malkin,Backstrom,Kuznetsov....elite C are kinda important no?

 

[LeafsNation75]

I wonder what happened between June 27th and now to change these results...

This reminds me of the way people view Phil Kessel. When he played for the Leafs he was called fat and out of shape. Since going to Pittsburgh we don't hear those comments anymore. So it doesn't surprise me how non Leafs fans now view Tavares since he signed in Toronto.

 

[StoneHands]

#1C difference makers are more difficult to come by - albeit the margin is getting smaller. Tavares #1

Tavares can still will a team to marginal success - Hedman honestly does not do a whole lot for Tampa without their explosive offense (nothing against him). The team who drafts Hedman still searches for #1C afterward.

I'm not sure I totally agree with this. I think it's just as difficult to find a Norris level defenseman as it is to find a difference making #1C. There are a lot of 1Ds but after the first 5 or so there is a big drop off to the next tier and Hedman is most certainly in that first tier. The same can be said about 1Cs but Tavares is not in the first tier in most people's opinion.

I also don't agree that Tavares can will a team to success but Hedman can't. Tavares and the Isles made the playoffs 3 times in his 9 seasons there and only once made it to the second round. The one time they made it out of the first round they were crushed by Hedman and the Lightning which were just a middle of the road offensive team so they certainly didn't have an explosive offense. That lightning team lost in the Conference final to the eventual Cup winners and that was a team without Stamkos for the playoffs and Kucherov wasn't the superstar he is today. Hedman was best and most important player on the team that season and there shouldn't be much debate about that.

 

[Connor McConnor]

Hedman easily for me. Really hard to find a franchise level defenceman let alone one that is continuously in the Norris conversation.

 

[Sky04]

Islanders had a #1C for the past 9 years - look at all the success they've had, remarkable.

 

[PinkFly]

Islanders had a #1C for the past 9 years - look at all the success they've had, remarkable.

Yet Hedman has only shown he chokes in the playoffs despite having high caliber players around him his whole career.

Tavares is on the consensus best team on planet Earth and the Stanley Cup favourites. He is going to win a cup (and potentially MULTIPLE) within the next 5 years.

 

[Sky04]

Yet Hedman has only shown he chokes in the playoffs despite having high caliber players around him his whole career.

Tavares is on the consensus best team on planet Earth and the Stanley Cup favourites. He is going to win a cup (and potentially MULTIPLE) within the next 5 years.

Tavares is an expert on round 1 losses and not making the playoffs, he'll take that expertise and apply with him in Toronto although they seem to be pretty good at that themselves.

 

[StoneHands]

Yet Hedman has only shown he chokes in the playoffs despite having high caliber players around him his whole career.

Tavares is on the consensus best team on planet Earth and the Stanley Cup favourites. He is going to win a cup (and potentially MULTIPLE) within the next 5 years.

Who were all these high caliber players on Tampa during their run in '16 when they lost in the ECF to the eventual Cup winners? Hedman was playing 7 more minutes a game than anyone else on his team that year. You know, the same season they were underdogs against Tavares and Islanders but demolished them in 5 games.