Name some talented forwards who are good at defence as well

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
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Buchnevich is our best defensive forward and one of our best offensive forwards.

His first NHL season AV was making xenophobic Russian jokes about his defense. Now Buch’s scoring short handed goals against AV’s worst in the league defense. Serves that perennial loser right.
 

Matty Sundin

Registered User
Jul 18, 2006
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Better questions is wingers. Stone is like the first winger I can remember get a selke nom
 

Lays

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Jan 22, 2017
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Zibanejad, Kakko, Buchnevich are all high end defensively
 

tarheelhockey

Offside Review Specialist
Feb 12, 2010
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Not on the level of the Selke guys, but Trocheck is pretty good defensively for a guy who is known mainly for his nifty offensive moves.

He’s the Canes’ third PK center, because it’s Staal and Aho ahead of him. But he still pulls down a solid minute of PK time a game, which tells you he’s getting real shifts there. And he has the highest D-zone starts on the roster. Again not a Selke level defender, but he gets a lot of trust from the coaching staff and you don’t worry defensively when he’s out there.
 

Rodgerwilco

Entertainment boards w/ some Hockey mixed in.
Feb 6, 2014
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Guentzel doesn’t get enough credit in this area.

Pretty sound positional player with good reflexes. Is high hockey IQ helps him be in the right place to make the right plays in his zone.
 

UrbanImpact

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Apr 12, 2021
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Nils Hoglander despite only being 19yrs old was 13th in takeaways this year. He is also by far the lowest time one ice average player in that list of 13.

Some notables in the top 13 includes:

Stone
Draisaittle
Crosby
Scheifiele
Marchand
Oreilly
Mathews

Just an absolute puck hound and pest when he or his team doesnt have the puck. For his small frame, he also wins a massive amount of board battle and usually comes out of the corners with the puck.
 

Lays

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Jan 22, 2017
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Buchnevich is our best defensive forward and one of our best offensive forwards.

His first NHL season AV was making xenophobic Russian jokes about his defense. Now Buch’s scoring short handed goals against AV’s worst in the league defense. Serves that perennial loser right.
Buchnevich isn’t on Zibanejad’s level defensively. He’s been great on the PK this season but for overall defensive play Zibanejad is more proven and is better. Zibanejad is also one of the few centers in the league that play both PP1 and PK1, a list thats >5
 

613Leafer

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May 26, 2008
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Datsyuk was a great one in terms of a guy with world class pure skill, but also world class two-way play.

I think most of the classic two-way Selke candidates, while still very skilled, fall short of Datsyuk's skill level. Many also rely heavily on their physical size / grittiness, which he obviously didn't do.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Dec 8, 2013
57,228
23,101
New York
Buchnevich isn’t on Zibanejad’s level defensively. He’s been great on the PK this season but for overall defensive play Zibanejad is more proven and is better. Zibanejad is also one of the few centers in the league that play both PP1 and PK1, a list thats >5

Zibanejad is also good defensively. I think Rangers fans are too tough on his defensive stats. He's better defensively than the stats suggest, but I'd give Buchnevich a slight advantage defensively due to a better hockey sense on the defensive end and better defensive stats in recent seasons. It's close though.

From the three you stated, I'd also include Lafreniere. While Kakko and Lafreniere might be lacking so far in points, I thought both were very good defensively last season.
 

Lays

Registered User
Jan 22, 2017
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Zibanejad is also good defensively. I think Rangers fans are too tough on his defensive stats. He's better defensively than the stats suggest, but I'd give Buchnevich a slight advantage defensively due to a better hockey sense on the defensive end and better defensive stats in recent seasons. It's close though.

From the three you stated, I'd also include Lafreniere. While Kakko and Lafreniere might be lacking so far in points, I thought both were very good defensively last season.
I’ve never seen Buchnevich make a play close to how Zibanejad bullied Dillon, strips the puck from him in his own zone, and then snipes the game winner. This isn’t even an outlier for Zibanejad, he can turn his defense into offense with a switch and creates numerous chances offensively with his defensive play. Buch is better in his own zone and positioning himself to poke at passes or loose picks but you would never see Buchnevich cleanly strip guys routinely like Zibanejad can
 

Oddbob

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Jan 21, 2016
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Brent Burns ................................................................. oohhhh you said good at defence.
 

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