Rookie #1 D-men?

[seventieslord]

Barry Beck with Colorado in 77-78 was the teams #1 defenceman right from his first game.

Maybe Borje Salming in 73-74 would be another example, though he was a bit older (22) than most rookies.

Right on both counts.

 

[Hardyvan123]

Something that is easily forgotten thanks to what he has done in 19 seasons since is Nicklas Lidstrom's rookie season of 1991-92. He was easily Detroit's third-best player, behind Steve Yzerman and Sergei Fedorov, and an argument can be made that he was better than Fedorov that year. TOI was not officially tracked by the NHL until 1998-99, but Lidstrom was partnered with Brad McCrimmon (who he cites as a major reason that he became the player he is), as Detroit's top defense pairing at even-strength. Lidstrom also anchored the top PP unit with Yzerman and Fedorov, who benefited from having a difference-making presence at the point on the PP that they had never previously had.

He should have run away with the Calder Trophy, but voters were so caught up in the excitement that Pavel Bure brought to the ice that they overlooked him because he was not flashy and he was overshadowed by one superstar center and another that was about to become one. Bure did score 34 goals, but he played only 65 games and had an even +/-. The Russian Rocket was a spectacular player to watch, but Lidstrom was clearly, significantly, the better player. His 60 points and +36 were not a product of anything but his own play, the same of which cannot be said for Paul Ysebart being +44 on Steve Yzerman's left wing and thus becoming the new Gerard Gallant on a team that still had the old Gerard Gallant.

The Lidstrom-Bure situation is a perfect example of why Lidstrom did not win his first Norris until 2000-01. He was never flashy, never made the highlight reels. He never did anything jaw-dropping. Lidstrom exemplified greatness, but greatness that was overlooked as a result of him being so consistently great that nothing stuck out at you. The ironic part about Lidstrom is that his positioning is his greatest asset, one that ranks among the very greatest individual skills in the history of a position dominated by players that usually had that one great, usually very obvious, skill that set them apart. MacInnis had the slapshot. Coffey and Orr had the skating. Chelios and Robinson had the physicality. Bourque and Potvin had everything. Those skills all stuck out at you when you watched them. Lidstrom has positioning. There is nothing less noticeable than great positioning. You don't notice when someone is in position, you notice when someone is OUT of position. And until 2001, pardon my statement, nobody noticed that nobody noticed Nicklas Lidstrom because nobody notices someone that is never out of position.[/B]

Great post, especially the last part, in the 95 playoffs people around the league would have taken more notice of Lidstrom but his skill set is so subtle compared to the more obvious ones that you listed above and perhaps take longer to be appreciated.

Jovo by comparison was noticed from his 1st season but was enver half the Dman that Lidstrom was (okay a slight exaggeration but you get my point here).

 

[JSmith81x]

1. Was Keith a shutdown D-man back then?
2. You guys had Spacek before he began to suck

Keith did get a lot of "Hey, he's a great skater" and "He has the best endurance in the league," but wasn't really used in an offensive role, but to gobble up icetime at even strength and on the PK. He played five minutes a game on the PK back then (Chara played almost six a game back then; this season, Hal Gill led the way w/ less than four a game).

The team was not good as a whole, as Tallon signed a bunch of older guys -- Barnaby, Curtis Brown, Dowd, Cullimore, Lapointe, Todd Simpson, etc -- and they were far too slow and unskilled to keep up w/ other teams. Plus Kyle Calder, Tyler Arnason, and Mark Bell were their first line players.

 

[MasterDecoy]

subban was this year

 

[Jumptheshark]

I believe pronger was

 

[seventieslord]

I believe pronger was

...sorta.

The unofficial estimates have him at 22.43 minutes per game, 2nd on the team behind James Patrick, who was at 23.01 but played just 47 games for Hartford. I would personally call Patrick their #1 for that year, but others may see it differently.

 

[toob]

underrated Larry Murphy once again gets forgotten...
he most likely was the #1 D on the Kings his rookie season in 81
76 points! fourth in scoring behind the triple crown line
and the team seemed to improve a lot that season too

 

[Hawksfan2828]

1. Was Keith a shutdown D-man back then?
2. You guys had Spacek before he began to suck

No, well... Think Nick Leddy.

Nick Leddy is a clone of Keith 5-6 years ago.

Keith had a bit more agility, but both players are extremely similar.

 

[BubbaBoot]

Tyler Myers led Buffalo in icetime as a rookie.

Denis Potvin was a 30-minute guy immediately for New York.

I don't think there are very many good examples of this. Lidstrom, Coffey, and Robinson don't qualify.

It wasn't that Robinson wasn't talented enough. He had a great first AHL season in Nova Scotia and was half way through the next season when he was called up.....to a loaded Montreal defensive corps. Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, Bob Murdoch, Jacques Laperriere, Pierre Bouchard and Dale Hoganson.

I think Laperriere was breaking down, Bouchard had some injuries(?) and Hoganson was a throw-in / stop gap in the Vachon trade and never had a chance to really gel for them, (and jumped to the WHA the following season).

The following season after his call up was Robinson's first full year, he led the team defensemen in games played and he did a helluva job, never looking back.

IMO, at or near the top 10 defensemen of all-time.

 

[seventieslord]

[/B]

It wasn't that Robinson wasn't talented enough. He had a great first AHL season in Nova Scotia and was half way through the next season when he was called up.....to a loaded Montreal defensive corps. Guy Lapointe, Serge Savard, Bob Murdoch, Jacques Laperriere, Pierre Bouchard and Dale Hoganson.

I think Laperriere was breaking down, Bouchard had some injuries(?) and Hoganson was a throw-in / stop gap in the Vachon trade and never had a chance to really gel for them, (and jumped to the WHA the following season).

The following season after his call up was Robinson's first full year, he led the team defensemen in games played and he did a helluva job, never looking back.

IMO, at or near the top 10 defensemen of all-time.

I agree, definitely top-10 all time... the question was whether he was a #1 in his rookie year, and the icetime estimates say he wasn't until his 4th season... that's why I said he doesn't qualify.

 

[Padan]

Ed Jovanovski?

It was either him or Robert Svehla (also a rookie in 95/96 Panthers).

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Arguably 1977-78. Doug Wilson

 

[gifted88]

Eddie Shore? Not much I can find ice-time wise but he was one of Boston's better players as a rookie.

Red Kelly as well was Detroit's #1 Dman as a rookie.

 

[seventieslord]

Very unlikely. That title likely goes to Bill Quackenbush.