Top 25 defencemen in the NHL

[Ziggyjoe21]

Based on what I saw in the cup finals Letang is superior to Subban. His injuries shouldn't go against him during an off season thread.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Based on what I saw in the cup finals Letang is superior to Subban. His injuries shouldn't go against him during an off season thread.

Usually you need a bigger sample size than 6 games

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Oliver Ekman-Larsson
3. Victor Hedman
4. Marc-Eduard Vlasic
5. Anton Stralman
6. Oscar Klefbom
7. Ryan Ellis
8. Brent Burns
9. Shea Weber
10. Ryan McDonagh
11. Jacob Trouba
12. P.K. Subban
13. Drew Doughty
14. Jared Spurgeon
15. Roman Josi
16. John Carlson
17. Alex Pietrangelo
18. Colton Parayko
19. Torey Krug
20. Mattias Ekholm
21. Niklas Hjalmarsson
22. Jaccob Slavin
23. Brian Campbell
24. Jake Muzzin
25. TJ Brodie

I'm hoping omitting Keith was just an oversite

 

[b1e9a8r5s]

Based on what I saw in the cup finals Letang is superior to Subban. His injuries shouldn't go against him during an off season thread.

Based on watching Letang not play?

 

[E82]

Based on what I saw in the cup finals Letang is superior to Subban. His injuries shouldn't go against him during an off season thread.

Huh lol Wasn't Subban the better dman on either team and Letang didnt play?

 

[Dan403]

I was told that Edmonton had "six Giordano's"

 

[VoluntaryDom]

Not enough (or any) Tanev or Hjalmarsson here.

I guess that, on HFBoards, offense is more important than actual defense for a defender.

true, I forgot hammer on mine

don't think tanev quite belongs

 

[nabby12]

Ellis and Ekholm are both easily in the top 20.

 

[Aceboogie]

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Oliver Ekman-Larsson
3. Victor Hedman
4. Marc-Eduard Vlasic
5. Anton Stralman
6. Oscar Klefbom
7. Ryan Ellis
8. Brent Burns
9. Shea Weber
10. Ryan McDonagh
11. Jacob Trouba
12. P.K. Subban
13. Drew Doughty
14. Jared Spurgeon
15. Roman Josi
16. John Carlson
17. Alex Pietrangelo
18. Colton Parayko
19. Torey Krug
20. Mattias Ekholm
21. Niklas Hjalmarsson
22. Jaccob Slavin
23. Brian Campbell
24. Jake Muzzin
25. TJ Brodie

I actually agree with alot of this list. Id add Keith for Muzzin tho

 

[Aceboogie]

Ristolainen is better than Slavin, Spurgeon, Hamilton, Fowler, Klingberg, Jones, Werenski, Byfuglien, Brodie, Giordano, Vlasic, McDonagh, and Weber

Nah. Hes way to bad defensively to be anywhere near this conversation. Hell his even strength offense is weak

Risto is an elite PP specialist force fed minutes on a bad team

 

[Blues88]

Any list with Byfuglien over Trouba is wrong. Trouba is a 1D, Buff only produces like one.

So you're simply valuing Trouba's defending over Buff's production...unless I missed where Trouba produced like a #1 (whatever that means)....

 

[VoluntaryDom]

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Oliver Ekman-Larsson
3. Victor Hedman
4. Marc-Eduard Vlasic
5. Anton Stralman
6. Oscar Klefbom
7. Ryan Ellis
8. Brent Burns
9. Shea Weber
10. Ryan McDonagh
11. Jacob Trouba
12. P.K. Subban
13. Drew Doughty
14. Jared Spurgeon
15. Roman Josi
16. John Carlson
17. Alex Pietrangelo
18. Colton Parayko
19. Torey Krug
20. Mattias Ekholm
21. Niklas Hjalmarsson
22. Jaccob Slavin
23. Brian Campbell
24. Jake Muzzin
25. TJ Brodie

I'm a Bolt but no way Stralman is #5.

 

[Master Scheif]

So you're simply valuing Trouba's defending over Buff's production...unless I missed where Trouba produced like a #1 (whatever that means)....

Buff has good production because he takes on massive minutes. He is a joy to watch offensively and physically, but his defensive acumen is usually poor. Trouba defensively is great, and his all around game is also very good. Trouba can handle huge minutes, and should be relied on far more than Buff. Buff is very inconsistent. Trouba played like a 1D this year and Buff did not. I expect this trend to continue.

 

[PatrikBerglund]

It seems like everyone except for NA journalists see Karlsson as the overwhelmingly best defenceman in the world.

Doughty and Burns' Norrisses were about as undeserved as (insert clever pun).

 

[Zezima]

Slavin and Faulk both belong somewhere in 10-20 range

Karlsson #1

 

[Aladyyn]

Nah. Hes way to bad defensively to be anywhere near this conversation. Hell his even strength offense is weak

Risto is an elite PP specialist force fed minutes on a bad team

Dan Bylsma.

Also this.

 

[WesMcCauley]

Slavin and Faulk both belong somewhere in 10-20 range

Karlsson #1

Slavin yes, Faulk no.

 

[Arthuros]

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Oliver Ekman-Larsson
3. Victor Hedman
4. Marc-Eduard Vlasic
5. Anton Stralman
6. Oscar Klefbom
7. Ryan Ellis
8. Brent Burns
9. Shea Weber
10. Ryan McDonagh
11. Jacob Trouba
12. P.K. Subban
13. Drew Doughty
14. Jared Spurgeon
15. Roman Josi
16. John Carlson
17. Alex Pietrangelo
18. Colton Parayko
19. Torey Krug
20. Mattias Ekholm
21. Niklas Hjalmarsson
22. Jaccob Slavin
23. Brian Campbell
24. Jake Muzzin
25. TJ Brodie

Klefbom, Spurgeon too high. Slavin a bit too low. And if you're going by defensive ability, Lindholm should've at least cracked the list.

 

[ottawa]

Klefbom belongs in the 10-15 range.

Yeah, among #2 defensemen maybe. Definitely not top 15 in the league.

 

[ottawa]

Subban is very easily a top 5 defenseman

Karlsson
Doughty
Hedman
Burns/Subban
Subban/Burns

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

So you're simply valuing Trouba's defending over Buff's production...unless I missed where Trouba produced like a #1 (whatever that means)....

Trouba had a big jump in points despite missing a good chunk of the season from the holdout. His PPG was really high.
All of the fancy stats support Trouba played at a 1D level last year.
Now he has to do it again.
I'm fine if people want to see him do it again before they anoint him a true #1D but he did show last season that he can be / is one.

If he gets the slight bump on minutes that he should and doesn't miss considerable time I'm confident he'll hit career highs in many categories.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

It seems like everyone except for NA journalists see Karlsson as the overwhelmingly best defenceman in the world.

Doughty and Burns' Norrisses were about as undeserved as (insert clever pun).

Difference between being the best and having the best year.

 

[Oilyveins97*]

Hedman
Karlsson
Doughty
Burns
Subban
Ekman-Larsson
Letang
Keith
Weber
Pietrangelo
Suter
McDonagh
Jones
Vlasic
Faulk
Lindholm
Fowler
Hjalmarsson
Giordano
Stralman
Rielly
Trouba
Slavin
Leddy
Gardiner
Brodie
Larsson
Johnson
Ristolainen

tell me if I forgot anyone also that's more than 25

Klefbom?

 

[Critical13]

Instead of posting the list, these are the guys I see that are out of place on many lists:

Too high:
Josi
Trouba
Brodie
Weber
Klefbom
Krug

Too low:
Petro
McDonagh
Fowler
Subban
Suter
Slavin

 

[Seanaconda]

Usually you need a bigger sample size than 6 games

Letang has played plenty of games . He is a top 5 dman when he isn't injured which unfortunately is alot.


But before burns and hedman broke out he was the only guy that could rival karlssons offense when he did play and he can play half a game because he's a monster when healthy. Just bad on the powerplay

It's easy to say he's just a product of malkin and Crosby but he has played with both of them out and has dominated games