Honest question, why are many 30+ Defensemen struggling

[Avelanche]

fair enough.

Some names on the top of my head:
Karlsson and Subban: Both had their fair share on injuries, but you would think they would be at least top pairing defensemen.

Burns and Giordano: two guys who took time to get to where they are. Definitely good in their 30's, but now declining for a few years now. And in the case for Giordano, it's not like he has major wear and tiers when it comes to the playoffs, only playing 23 games.

Carlson, Josi, and Pietrangelo: All struggling compared to last season who were all great last season. Pietrangelo gets some slack with a new team.

All of those guys seem fine except subban and maybe Gio who is now 37 and just recently had a career year. Plenty of great 30+ dmen.

 

[PatrikBerglund]

This is based on some weird theory you have in your head honestly. Lidstrom would challenge for Norris at 40 in todays NHL just like he did 10 years ago

The game is way faster today.

Are you saying this wouldn't affect him, especially at age 40?

Let me guess, he would "just adapt"?

 

[DrDangles]

Because once you're 30 the cold starts to hurt your knees and sleeping in a weird position can cripple you.

 

[HansonBro]

OP still hasnt made a list of whos struggling...

Burns and Gio are allowed a bad season, concidering the teams overall play.

 

[BlueBaron]

I think training camp and preseason are most important if you are on either end of the age spectrum.

 

[predfan24]

When I turned 30, I abruptly declined physically also. And I play a defensive position in my rec league sport. It's just a magic number. I felt like a world-beater at 27, but when I hit 30, plunk.

34 here and I haven't noticed a significant decline in my athleticism. The main difference between now and 10 years ago is the amount of rest and recovery it takes to perform at peak levels again. The NHL schedule is relentless. That could help explain why 30+ guys seem to deteriorate quickly. Also, when you are playing at the highest level of your particular sport even a very small decline can make a huge difference when there is very little that separates the best players from the worst. You are constantly having to compete with fresher early to mid 20 somethings that have less wear and tear.

 

[predfan24]

Low fat, medium protein, high carb plant-based diet.

I'm at the age where lots of my friends are entering their mid 30s and describe themselves as "old" and "broken". But in reality, many of them eat like shit, have stressful desk jobs, long commutes, no/minimal exercise, drink lots of alcohol, overall sedentary lifestyle, and don't have hardly any coping mechanisms to speak of. Honestly, it makes me sad to see my peers accepting their fate like there isn't anything they can do about it. Yes, we get older, and eventually we will all break, but people don't have to accept aging terribly. Sure, there is a bit of luck involved, but we can still control our destinies somewhat.

 

[Crease]

The body starts doing some annoying stuff around 30.

The game is faster, you can’t clutch and grab anymore, and I suspect stringent drug testing is a factor as well.

Also, we tend to remember guys like Bourque, Lidstrom, and Chelios as the norm as opposed to other worldly freaks. For every guy who had success into their late 30s, there are dozens who faded away.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

The game is way faster today.

Are you saying this wouldn't affect him, especially at age 40?

Let me guess, he would "just adapt"?

Lidstrom was a machine. He'd just get Boston Dynamics to replace a few of his old parts, update his firmware for more speed, and he'd be good as new.

 

[Menzinger]

The average player is just getting bigger and faster than they were in the past. We've had a mini revolution in fitness training/sports nutrition ect.

And now we also are getting better at tracking micro stats that help shed further light on the struggles of these guys.

Its a young man's game.

 

[lebdafor norris]

Male athletes usually peak in terms of speed in their early 20s and then they drop off from there. Muscle development and strength however continues to improve until about they reach the age of 31, that is why many Boxers and UFC fighters like Pacquaio, Mayweather, Adesanya and Khabib looks so dominant in their early 30s, so long as they dont sustain huge damage during the early part of their career.

90s clutch and grab, more physical brand of hockey allowed players to compensate for the lost of speed with their increase in strength, it is why so many big, slow Dman found success in that era as "shutdown defencemen."

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

It all ends when they get married and have kids.

 

[Amazinmets73]

I'm at the age where lots of my friends are entering their mid 30s and describe themselves as "old" and "broken". But in reality, many of them eat like shit, have stressful desk jobs, long commutes, no/minimal exercise, drink lots of alcohol, overall sedentary lifestyle, and don't have hardly any coping mechanisms to speak of. Honestly, it makes me sad to see my peers accepting their fate like there isn't anything they can do about it. Yes, we get older, and eventually we will all break, but people don't have to accept aging terribly. Sure, there is a bit of luck involved, but we can still control our destinies somewhat.

Agreed. Hell, I see people significantly younger than me who look older than I am.

 

[voxel]

Maybe they are stuck playing in the North Division

The best D in that division is 33 years old... Petry

 

[Garl]

The game is way faster today.

Are you saying this wouldn't affect him, especially at age 40?

Let me guess, he would "just adapt"?

It is a "little bit" faster today at best. Lidstrom retired in 2011 not in 1991.

And yes, hockey IQ is the most important quality of the player. Speed was never an issue for Lidstrom(he was way faster than Chara wo is still decent at 43). He didn't retire because he was struggling, he retired because he was not able to play at the level people were used to(Norris winner/contender level).

 

[Volica]

OP still hasnt made a list of whos struggling...

Burns and Gio are allowed a bad season, concidering the teams overall play.

Gio has been consistently the worst defender on the team though
He’s part of the issue in Calgary this year. Likely the 5th best D most of the year for us.

 

[lawrence]

Op wish you made a list. 30+ is a wide range since it can be 31 or 38. Kevin bieksa and Alex edler had their best season after 30. Weber is 36 Keith was still good at age 34. That said age 30 is when a lot of players start to slow down. It’s nature.

 

[britdevil]

Feel like shit, just want my 20's back.

 

[Amazinmets73]

Male athletes usually peak in terms of speed in their early 20s and then they drop off from there. Muscle development and strength however continues to improve until about they reach the age of 31, that is why many Boxers and UFC fighters like Pacquaio, Mayweather, Adesanya and Khabib looks so dominant in their early 30s, so long as they dont sustain huge damage during the early part of their career.

90s clutch and grab, more physical brand of hockey allowed players to compensate for the lost of speed with their increase in strength, it is why so many big, slow Dman found success in that era as "shutdown defencemen."

Agree. Fast twitch peaks early to mid 20s. Slow twitch seems to peak late 20s/early 30s, no? Look at marathon runners and triathletes.

 

[MadLuke]

Defenseman had a reputation to not only age well but to peak much later than forward.

that said:
NHL Stats
NHL Stats

top 20 Player with the most ice time by games (min 10 games) this years:

Burns
Doughty
Provorov
Pietrangelo
Karlsson
Nurse
Josi
Chabot
Hedman
Fox
Jones
Ekblad
ellis
Carlson
Letang
Faulk
McAvoy
Keith
Makar
Werenski

10 are 30 or more, 10 or below, is that a particularly bad showing for the above 30 ? or the late 90s-early 2000s was a time when the best generation of D aged into a particularly not that good era of talents.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

When I turned 30, I abruptly declined physically also. And I play a defensive position in my rec league sport. It's just a magic number. I felt like a world-beater at 27, but when I hit 30, plunk.

This. Add compounding injuries over time and the speed of the game now. It’s not hard to see why this is happening.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

I'd bet nearly every great Dman mentioned in the OP would be sharing similar struggles, we've never seen speed like this overall.

 

[CamPopplestone]

Speed of the game. No real training camp or pre season has really left a lot of them struggling to catch up, plus given that isolation and such has been a big thing, I'm guessing besides that return to play for the cup, a lot weren't skating or as physically active as they'd usually be in the off time. That's harder for you the older you get.

 

[triggrman]

I could tell a drop at 35 in my conditioning especially. At 40, speed fell dramatically, at 45, I quite the game.

 

[Sweetpotato]

The speed of the game increasing as well as this season it was impossible to be in game shape. You'll find most older players with improve as the season goes on.