Rank 'em - Theodore / Manson / Montour / Larsson

[liquiduck]

I guess to make a long story short, Theodore stuggled last season when we expected improvement.

Montour showed that his ahl dominance just might be NHL translatable, playing top 4 minutes for us in the playoffs as a rookie with under 20 games of NHL experience.

Manson made another step forward last season, becoming a legitimate 2nd pairing defender.

Lastly, Larsson just kind of held steady. He opened some eyes when he beat Theodore and Montour out of camp as a 19 year old. Had a bit of a up and down year with Frolonda taking on a bigger role, but played very well in the playoffs for them and for the Sweden U-20 team.

 

[derriko]

Thanks for that ^. I just knew the stats. Montour ppg in college ~ Theodore pretty far over ppg in the Dub.

AHL they scored .82 and .76 ppg, although Montour had something like 30-40 more games played.

But I guess that's what I get from stat watching. Theodore had 8 points in 14 and was plus 4, while Montour had 7 points in 17 playoff games. But he apparently struggled on the other half of the ice and Montour didn't right?

So basically it comes down to the fact (between these two specifically) Montour is stronger and handles the bigger forwards better? Though you have to factor in Theodore is 2 years younger than Montour, and 4 years younger than Manson. 2 more years of strength training for Theodore and that may no longer be a weakness I would assume.

With that knowledge, I would go with what I know right now:

Montour
Theodore
Manson
Larsson (Only because he's unproven)

I do say I value offensive defenseman over stay at home guys any day, assuming the OFD are at least adequate in their own zone.

Yes, I'm a Karlsson over Doughty type guy, not taking into account this past year or two where Karlsson overtook the throne and nobody is even in his same class anymore.

But man, what an embarrassment of riches for Anaheim. Lindholm, Fowler, Vatanen, Montour, Manson, Larsson, and just recently losing Theodore. All young guys with more to give too!

Someone knows their defenseman. Whoever that scout is should start their own scouting service and sell their rankings to each team for a million bucks. Make probably 30 times the money they are making right now.

I even remember during Karlsson's draft that the reason Ottawa had to trade up was because Anaheim was going to take him. Can you imagine...

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Now that its a discussion thread, ill go a lil deeper into my picks

I rated manson last, because well hes already topped off in my books... and all tho he is a great complimentary shut down player... there is no more potential for him to really get better. Currently he is the best out of the 4 tho.

Montour has a swagger to his game, the "it" factor... when he gets the puck you get excited, can be a lil reckless at times but he seems to learn fast and grow fast, hes don't great at every level of hockey hes played and didn't look lost at all in the playoffs when the ducks were playing with injuries, i think he has the highest upside if he can hold his own defensively and continue to use his skills/shot to generate offense hes going to be a really good dmen for long time, and likely a great partner for lindholm.


Theodore, great offensively... not so great defensively ... great skater and offensive instincts and if he can put the defensive side of his game up a few levels he can be a really solid dmen in the nhl... i think hes going to get a big opportunity in vegas to show off his skill set and grow as a player. If they can find the right partner for him he could be a very huge piece for veags for a long time.


I think Larsson gets some what over looked when it comes to the ducks defense/prospects... in his trial with Anaheim last year he looked pretty good and did beat out Montour/Theodore, He has the most 2way ability out of the 4 where Montour and Theodore are more offensive guys and manson is more defensive, Larsson finds himself somewhere in the middle.


And to the people saying we don't have Theodore anymore, you can start looking forward to the Josh Mahura hype

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Thanks for that ^. I just knew the stats. Montour ppg in college ~ Theodore pretty far over ppg in the Dub.

AHL they scored .82 and .76 ppg, although Montour had something like 30-40 more games played.

But I guess that's what I get from stat watching. Theodore had 8 points in 14 and was plus 4, while Montour had 7 points in 17 playoff games. But he apparently struggled on the other half of the ice and Montour didn't right?

So basically it comes down to the fact (between these two specifically) Montour is stronger and handles the bigger forwards better? Though you have to factor in Theodore is 2 years younger than Montour, and 4 years younger than Manson. 2 more years of strength training for Theodore and that may no longer be a weakness I would assume.

With that knowledge, I would go with what I know right now:

Montour
Theodore
Manson
Larsson (Only because he's unproven)

I do say I value offensive defenseman over stay at home guys any day, assuming the OFD are at least adequate in their own zone.

Yes, I'm a Karlsson over Doughty type guy, not taking into account this past year or two where Karlsson overtook the throne and nobody is even in his same class anymore.

But man, what an embarrassment of riches for Anaheim. Lindholm, Fowler, Vatanen, Montour, Manson, Larsson, and just recently losing Theodore. All young guys with more to give too!

Someone knows their defenseman. Whoever that scout is should start their own scouting service and sell their rankings to each team for a million bucks. Make probably 30 times the money they are making right now.

I even remember during Karlsson's draft that the reason Ottawa had to trade up was because Anaheim was going to take him. Can you imagine...

I think the biggest thing about Montour vs Theodore is Theodore looked lost in his own end, where Montour looked more confident(not to say he didn't make bad plays but he didn't seem to question/worry bout his decisions) for a player getting his first taste of NHL action. Montour is much more aggressive in both ends of the ice... he battles a lot. Theodore reminds me of fowler a bit, and i don't see him as a player that is ever going to be physical dominant in the nhl, instead he will rely on his skating/and stick on puck style defense. He will likely needs someone to do that for him as his partner, Montour comes off more vatanen like in the sense that he doesn't let size/strength deter him hes still going to battle you for the puck. A little bit of a wild card but def exciting.

All 4 of them should be getting significant NHL time this season so we can come back to this thread later in the season and see how they all progressed.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

Thanks for that ^. I just knew the stats. Montour ppg in college ~ Theodore pretty far over ppg in the Dub.

AHL they scored .82 and .76 ppg, although Montour had something like 30-40 more games played.

But I guess that's what I get from stat watching. Theodore had 8 points in 14 and was plus 4, while Montour had 7 points in 17 playoff games. But he apparently struggled on the other half of the ice and Montour didn't right?

So basically it comes down to the fact (between these two specifically) Montour is stronger and handles the bigger forwards better? Though you have to factor in Theodore is 2 years younger than Montour, and 4 years younger than Manson. 2 more years of strength training for Theodore and that may no longer be a weakness I would assume.

With that knowledge, I would go with what I know right now:

Montour
Theodore
Manson
Larsson (Only because he's unproven)

I do say I value offensive defenseman over stay at home guys any day, assuming the OFD are at least adequate in their own zone.

Yes, I'm a Karlsson over Doughty type guy, not taking into account this past year or two where Karlsson overtook the throne and nobody is even in his same class anymore.

But man, what an embarrassment of riches for Anaheim. Lindholm, Fowler, Vatanen, Montour, Manson, Larsson, and just recently losing Theodore. All young guys with more to give too!

Someone knows their defenseman. Whoever that scout is should start their own scouting service and sell their rankings to each team for a million bucks. Make probably 30 times the money they are making right now.

I even remember during Karlsson's draft that the reason Ottawa had to trade up was because Anaheim was going to take him. Can you imagine...

Martin Madden has ran the Ducks drafts for 10 years now (Director of Amateur Scouting for the first six before 'Amateur' was dropped from the job title) , so he's likely the most deserving of credit for draft success during that time.

 

[derriko]

That's a good argument. You need to exude that next level confidence to become a big time player imo.

Would you Anaheim fans have given up Montour + Bieksa instead of Stoner + Theodore? Maybe with a pick or other asset added.

 

[liquiduck]

That's a good argument. You need to exude that next level confidence to become a big time player imo.

Would you Anaheim fans have given up Montour + Bieksa instead of Stoner + Theodore? Maybe with a pick or other asset added.

I personally wouldn't. Theodore will be a good player, perhaps a real good player. Montour tho, he has that "it" factor. The killer extinct that was/is missing from fowlers game also seems to be missing from theodores. Both very cerebral, great vision, great skaters, but lack a bit "edge" or confidence I feel you will. Fowler was able to overcome that a bit and really developed nicely defensively. Theodore will have to do the same to reach his potential, but I suspect he's always going to leave you wanting a littleness more.

Montour seems to have that killer extinct. He could end up being a top pairing guy if what we saw last season was for real.

The playoffs. Both Theodore and Montour were slotted into the top 4 against Calgary because we had injury issues. Theodore had a decent showing overall. Better than the year before, but he still looked overwhelmed in his own end. We had reduce his minutes and it forced Bieksa on the ice for 24+ mintures a night toward te end of that series . Scary stuff. He did have a nice offensive outburst in a couple games against Calgary.

Montour on the other hand didn't look out of place at all in the top 4. Confident with the puck, defended well, carried the puck up ice. We gave him some tough minutes ( we had too) and he excelled. Him and Bieksa( of all people) really saved our bacon in the 1st round. Lindholm was playing injured, no fowler , and no vatanen. It was really Manson, Montour, and Bieksa doing a lot of the heavy lifting, with Holzer and Theodore just trying to hold on. They have us enough effective minutes for us to get by, but man I think made things a lot harder than the us needed to be.

 

[Sean Garrity]

Manson isn't really comparable to the other three because his game is so different and will never show on the stat sheet. To the Ducks, I'd say:

Manson - that unique element of physicality and skating. Will never look great on the stat sheet.
Montour - most dynamic player of the four, and hopefully can end up QBing what was a very disappointing PP last year.
Larsson - Lindholm light.
Theodore - Can be dynamic when skating with the puck, and the way he gets his puck off his stick so quickly is amazing. However, for such a good skater, I have no idea how he continues to get beaten wide so easily. Miss him.

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Now:

Manson
Montour
Theodore
Larsson

Future:

Montour
Larsson
Manson
Theodore

 

[EdJovanovski]

Manson
Larsson
Montour
Theodore

Larsson gets extra points for being the cutest player in the league

 

[eternalbedhead]

1. Montour
2. Manson

3. Theodore
4. Larsson

Montour is, even after his strong showing, a bit of a wildcard at #1. What I mean is that, though he has the highest potential of the four, his prime growing days are behind him. His biggest asset, even above his great skating and offensive abilities, is his swagger. He's confident with the puck, and he's confident without it. And despite the general stigma surrounding OFDs, he was pretty good defensively.

Manson is easily the most proven and the most bankable, and he firmly established himself as a solid top 4 defenseman this year. He doesn't have Montour's upside, but he's a proven steady top 4 DFD.

Theodore has upside, and his offensive game, despite a year of regression, still projects to be excellent. He's a great puck-mover, solid on the transition, and his offensive skillset stands out, but he's a huge liability in his own end and he lacks assertiveness in the offensive zone to fully utilize his capabilities there. He's still a future top 4 defenseman -- a Justin Schultz or even Sandis Ozolinsh-level defender, but he's got a lot of growing to do, especially in the defensive zone.

Larsson surprised early in the season by taking an NHL spot over both Montour and Theodore, but, as it might be expected with someone playing in 3 different leagues in the same season, he struggled to build on his strong rookie SHL performance. He's the best mix of offensive and defensive ability among the four and combines this with strong skating and hockey IQ, though I'd say he's the farthest out from a NHL top 4 job, but he has the potential to get there as a solid #3 or #4 with a well-rounded game.