Size Does Matter - The Decline of the 'PMD' Era

[StreetHawk]

They are now. The clubs that drafted them believed they would be phenoms. Those two clubs had smart scouts. Imagine both these guys on the Sabres!

Hughes was possible but not Makar. Has Dahlin not earned his $88 mill contract?

 

[Fatass]

Hughes was possible but not Makar. Has Dahlin not earned his $88 mill contract?

IMHO the Sabres should have traded Dahlin for a huge return (instead of extending him) and rebuilt again. He’s okay but not a phenom like Makar and Hughes, who both make a lot less.

 

[TheNumber4]

The League is definitely moving towards having a core of defenceman that are trees out there.

That said, the best defencemen this game has ever seen and will ever see are those that can consistently make elite plays with the puck. This type of player usually comes in a smaller package than the trees lining the 2nd and 3rd pairs of every team nowadays.

 

[StreetHawk]

IMHO the Sabres should have traded Dahlin for a huge return (instead of extending him) and rebuilt again. He’s okay but not a phenom like Makar and Hughes, who both make a lot less.

Dahlin you get from 24-32. Which is all prime years and you paid him $6 mill per on his bridge. Hughes is going to be like 28 or so when he’s up. Makar, an older 28 when he’s up. So they would get extended to like 36. Need good health to not have a dip before their next deals end.

 

[Fatass]

Dahlin you get from 24-32. Which is all prime years and you paid him $6 mill per on his bridge. Hughes is going to be like 28 or so when he’s up. Makar, an older 28 when he’s up. So they would get extended to like 36. Need good health to not have a dip before their next deals end.

Avs and Nucks are winning. Sabres aren’t. Time to fix that mess. Dahlin could return assets key to a rebuild/retool. Sabres have Power to build around.

 

[CanadienShark]

There's been no decline. Obviously everyone wants a unicorn like Hedman, but that won't stop teams from drafting smaller guys if they tick other boxes.

 

[StreetHawk]

Avs and Nucks are winning. Sabres aren’t. Time to fix that mess. Dahlin could return assets key to a rebuild/retool. Sabres have Power to build around.

At some point you can’t just keep hoping for the next shiny toy to be the now. There are pieces in Buffalo to work with. But have to be willing to actually make the moves. Just dropping your prospects in isn’t going to do it.

 

[surixon]

Pretty much all elite dmen can move the puck these days regardless of their size. It's more like being a puckmoving dmen is now a base requirement to make the NHL. Of course GMs will want PMD that also have other attributes like size and grit over those that don't.

 

[Oleksiak]

I think the league's GM's have realized that you can't win with defencemen who can't play defence. Guys like Rielly, Bouchard, Barrie are all going to end up in the AHL where they belong, and the game will be better as a result.

 

[Atoyot]

Weird to automatically associate "puck moving defenseman" with "undersized".

 

[Breakers]

Tyler Myers is the worst hockey player in the history of the national hockey league


And he’s big

 

[Just Linda]

Weird to automatically associate "puck moving defenseman" with "undersized".

No, that's not what I referred to.

The 'PMD era' was when a lot of people argued that size wasn't as big of a factor and small, mobile dmen were a big hit. In Habs fan groups, it looked like Mete bring over praised and other teams de emphasized size.

Look back on threads from that time, a lot of people argued that the NHL was moving away from size.

 

[Atoyot]

No, that's not what I referred to.

The 'PMD era' was when a lot of people argued that size wasn't as big of a factor and small, mobile dmen were a big hit. In Habs fan groups, it looked like Mete bring over praised and other teams de emphasized size.

Look back on threads from that time, a lot of people argued that the NHL was moving away from size.

Size is definitely an asset. Puck moving ability is also an asset. Size with no other assets doesn't translate into an NHL defenseman. I don't think it was about moving away from size, I think it was about moving away from big defensemen that didn't contribute anything other than being big and hoping that they become the next Chara. Nobody ever thought that size didn't matter. Nobody would have ever picked a small puck moving defenseman over a large puck moving defenseman.

 

[paragon]

The only reason you might see a decline in sub 6ft players is that the average height of kids is going up all the time. There's never been an era where defensemen were as skilled as they are today.

I'm 5'10" and 20 years ago I didn't feel short, but these days it feels like 80% of young adults I run across are way taller than me. It even feels like half of the women are taller than me these days.

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

The PMD has never been better. Size in the absence of skill is a useless cone now. Skill without any size can win you a Norris