I shall also ask again is the player you mentioned still playing in the 1D spot ? If so then why is this so hard? If not and he just had a good run and settled back into the 3/4 spot then that's another thing. As far as the pens go ots like this ... ceci received the highest grade , a B plus. But playing a more sheltered role. While letang was injured Marino for the most part took over the 1D. POJ may make a good case for that here though. In the case of the aging letang his play alone dictates he is no longer a 1D. For the record I think his rating was a D minus.....
This is like talking to a brick wall.
Again, if you're just the best D on a team full of bad defenseman it doesn't make you a #1D.
If someone had a defense made of:
Ceci, Johnson, Gudbranson, Staal, Sbisa and Bowey are you really going to call one of them a #1D? I'd sure hope not.
Hronek has also played as our "#1D" the last two seasons but no one actually thinks he is one