NHL Network top 25 Dmen

Nashology

Registered User
Dec 21, 2006
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How does the team with the #1 and #4 dmen and another quality dman in Vlasic have the 11th worst defense in the game last season? Doug Wilson must have gotten a 2nd job at the NHL network after signing that ridiculous Karlsson contract.

They also were the 2nd best Offense in the league, up there with Tampa.

They have a lot of good forwards but no true superstars. Their offense is generated by their D.

They won games due to their offense. They made the Conference final because of it as well.
 

volcom92886

Registered User
Feb 23, 2009
1,363
878
So Cal
They also were the 2nd best Offense in the league, up there with Tampa.

They have a lot of good forwards but no true superstars. Their offense is generated by their D.

They won games due to their offense. They made the Conference final because of it as well.

They made the conference finals because the NHL helped them in two game 7's with extremely favorable calls.
 

The Tourist

Registered User
Jul 11, 2008
7,673
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You replace Polak with a replacement level defender and Heiskanen probably gets 2nd place in the Calder vote. He belongs.

Give him any adequate top 4 dman partner and top line PP minutes and he probably wins the damn thing. Not many players in the league are going to steal PP time from Klingberg when the top unit is 4 forwards and 1 dman. How many assists would he have racked up playing on the top unit? I bet you could add another 20 points to his stats from last season.
 

sabremike

Friend To All Giraffes
Aug 30, 2010
22,544
33,789
Brewster, NY
I hate how people judge DEFENSEmen now by how many points they get.
Pulock played a significant role in the Isles going from arguably the worst defensive team of the modern era to one of the best defensive teams in the league. If you feel Miro is better I have no problem with that opinion but doing a Mike Francessa handwave/dismissal of Pulock is silly.
 
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Mattb124

Registered User
Apr 29, 2011
6,514
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How does the team with the #1 and #4 dmen and another quality dman in Vlasic have the 11th worst defense in the game last season? Doug Wilson must have gotten a 2nd job at the NHL network after signing that ridiculous Karlsson contract.

System, watch the games.
 

Mattb124

Registered User
Apr 29, 2011
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They made the conference finals because the NHL helped them in two game 7's with extremely favorable calls.

It's funny how people conveniently "forget" game 2 in the Vegas series in order to trash talk on the internet. If the whole series was called fairly, Vegas would have lost in 6 and wouldn't have even had the opportunity to poop the bed on the PK in game 7.
 

Jugitsu

Registered User
Dec 24, 2016
2,230
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Heiskanen but not Pulock is ridiculous.
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I believe there are two factors. Talking heads like to jump the gun and think about the future. No one probably disagrees with the assesment that Heiskanen will blow Pulock out of the water in years to come. Secondly Heiskanen is much more highly touted young gun. Gets a lot more media coverage etc. I can't say for a fact who was better last season or right this very moment. All I can say I've never even heard of Pulock but I've heard about Heiskanen plenty.
 
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TomasHertlsRooster

Don’t say eye test when you mean points
May 14, 2012
33,360
25,417
Fremont, CA
How does the team with the #1 and #4 dmen and another quality dman in Vlasic have the 11th worst defense in the game last season? Doug Wilson must have gotten a 2nd job at the NHL network after signing that ridiculous Karlsson contract.

Part of the same reason a team whose best forward was Tomas Hertl still finished 2nd in the NHL in goals behind only Tampa.
 

sabremike

Friend To All Giraffes
Aug 30, 2010
22,544
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Brewster, NY
Actually, I wonder why you have him this low. However, it's good that you included him anyways, as he is still pretty underrated league-wide. For me, he is Winnipeg's best defenseman. He's better than Byfuglien because of consistency. Buff is a Norris candidate when he's at the top of his game. The problem is, you never really know when that is going to happen. Meanwhile, Morrissey is always the mature, talented, steady force on the blueline, and with Trouba gone, you're going to see his offensive number blossom as well.

I liken Morrissey to a Serge Savard type of player.
The thing with Morrissey is that the more you ignore him the closer he gets.
 

Hokinaittii

Registered User
Aug 15, 2015
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1,293
Nice to see Heiskanen getting some love he definately deserves. After all, it's not all about points.
 

TaLoN

Red 5 standing by
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May 30, 2010
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Many other things wrong with this list aside... Why is Trouba on this list at all? Criminally overrated!

The Wild have 3 defenseman better than him! Not saying either should be on the list, but Dumba and Spurgeon should both get consideration for a list like this before Trouba.
 

dlawong

Registered User
Nov 24, 2011
2,408
520
Vancouver, Canada
Maybe I'm not watching these guys that closely, but Subban, Werenski and even Trouba on this list before OEL, McDonagh, Spurgeon and a homer vote Dumba, who I think has a strong case too? I'd not include Heiskanen and Dahlin on this list just yet. They are fringe - ie very close and might even secure their spots before we hit half way mark of the next season.
I am quite interested in Dumba. Besides the injury how close or far is he becoming elite? Obviously he has the skills.
 

Jugitsu

Registered User
Dec 24, 2016
2,230
1,900
Finland
I am quite interested in Dumba. Besides the injury how close or far is he becoming elite? Obviously he has the skills.

I'm not great at evaluating whether someone possesses elite qualities or whether they will become elite.

I can tell you this: offensively he's right there with the rest of the young guns IMO. He has great puck handling skills and a wicked slap shot - an absolute cannon. Too bad he had a season ending injury so early in the season. Who knows what kinds of numbers he could've accumulated.

He still has holes in his defensive game but I'm quite surprised how much he has evolved from what we were forced to witness only a couple of years ago. He's a lot smarter now and more calm and his decision making has improved by quite a lot. In the past he would get caught a lot when he tried to pinch in to stop a loose puck in the offensive zone. Also last season he finally started to deliver the big open ice hits he was well known for in his junior days. He's always been physical but was very stingy with his hits before last year. Ironically one of his hits resulted in him being forced to drop the gloves in retaliation which caused the injury.

I don't know if I answered your question. Defensively he's not close to being elite IMO. Offensively he might already be. Jury is still out though, need to repeat that 50 point campaign at the very least. Preferably improve it by a good 10-15 points. Which I think he definitely can.
 

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