Who are Canada's top 6 D-men now?

[JoelWarlord]

Hm. Ignoring injuries I'd probably do something like:

Chabot - Pietrangelo
Rielly - Parayko
Makar - Hamilton
Theodore - Letang

I'm not sure though. It could change quickly if certain guys bounce back and you could argue for Burns, Weber, Doughty, Ellis etc. as well. I know Makar plays RD but he's too good to leave off the roster and I think he'd be fine at LD.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Im shocked so many have Rielly. Also, Makar will easily be on this team in 2 years as well.

 

[Breakers]

Too many people not considering handedness
a good player isnt going to make the team because of handedness

Canadian:
Rielly (L) ~~~~ Hamilton (R) -
Chabot (L) ~~~~Pietrangelo (R)
Theodore (L) ~~~~Makar (R)
Canada is always tough with guys like Ellis (R) Nurse (L) Ekblad (R), Doughty (R)

American
Slavin (L) - Carlson (R) ~~~~ Reliable
Hughes (L) - McAvoy (R) ~~~~ Dynamic and Fun
Werenski (L) - Jones (R) ~~~Familiar
I really like the makeup of that American roster

 

[Deebs]

Too many people not considering handedness
a good player isnt going to make the team because of handedness

Canadian:
Rielly (L) ~~~~ Hamilton (R) -
Chabot (L) ~~~~Pietrangelo (R)
Theodore (L) ~~~~Makar (R)
Canada is always tough with guys like Ellis (R) Nurse (L) Ekblad (R), Doughty (R)

American
Slavin (L) - Carlson (R) ~~~~ Reliable
Hughes (L) - McAvoy (R) ~~~~ Dynamic and Fun
Werenski (L) - Jones (R) ~~~Familiar
I really like the makeup of that American roster

I totally forgot about Hamilton...he's on the team for sure.

 

[Tkachuky]

Definitely not Giordano.

Why’s that? Cause you’re an Oiler fan?

 

[Analyst365]

Harjit Sajjan has gotta be up there.

 

[vancityluongo]

People are just looking at the defense and thinking it's ****ty because they're very young. Give guys like Makar and Chabot 2-3 more years to develop that defensive game along with the offense and they will be elite, elite level Dmen just like what Doughty, Keith, Weber, etc. were for Canada when they were 25 years old.


Makar has a shot to be one of Canadas absolute best Dmen over the last 30 years.

Definitely.

In 2012 people were insanely worried on who would takeover from Niedermayer/Pronger. Doughty, Keith and Weber took on bigger roles and Pietrangelo and Subban progressed - that 2014 defense was one of the strongest ever.

I think the hypothetical 2022 defense feels worse because we didn't see what the 2018 defense would've looked like, which is:

Keith - Doughty
Vlasic - Burns
Giordano - Subban
Pietrangelo
Parayko/Hamilton

Keith won't be there in two years, and Giordano is likely in that boat too. Same for Burns. Subban and Vlasic wouldn't make the team today, and therefore won't be there in two years presumably. So what's left:

xxx - Hamilton
xxx - Parayko
xxx - Doughty
Pietrangelo

Morgan Reilly is on the top pair with Hamilton most likely, and Thomas Chabot is a good bet for the left side too. Someone with previous experience like Muzzin could probably be in as a LH shot... maybe you pair him with Doughty if needed? But barring something weird, Cale Makar would be there, so it's probably something like this:

Reilly - Hamilton
Makar - Parayko
Chabot - Pietrangelo
Muzzin/Doughty

And that's not considering prospects like Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, Jamie Drysdale etc. all being Hughes/Makar level when they hit the NHL. Could also see players like Ekblad and Theodore take big steps.

Canada's defense is fine. That's probably the best group aside from the US, which has definitely been a defense factory over the last decade.

 

[Dache]

Definitely.

In 2012 people were insanely worried on who would takeover from Niedermayer/Pronger. Doughty, Keith and Weber took on bigger roles and Pietrangelo and Subban progressed - that 2014 defense was one of the strongest ever.

I think the hypothetical 2022 defense feels worse because we didn't see what the 2018 defense would've looked like, which is:

Keith - Doughty
Vlasic - Burns
Giordano - Subban
Pietrangelo
Parayko/Hamilton

Keith won't be there in two years, and Giordano is likely in that boat too. Same for Burns. Subban and Vlasic wouldn't make the team today, and therefore won't be there in two years presumably. So what's left:

xxx - Hamilton
xxx - Parayko
xxx - Doughty
Pietrangelo

Morgan Reilly is on the top pair with Hamilton most likely, and Thomas Chabot is a good bet for the left side too. Someone with previous experience like Muzzin could probably be in as a LH shot... maybe you pair him with Doughty if needed? But barring something weird, Cale Makar would be there, so it's probably something like this:

Reilly - Hamilton
Makar - Parayko
Chabot - Pietrangelo
Muzzin/Doughty

And that's not considering prospects like Evan Bouchard, Noah Dobson, Jamie Drysdale etc. all being Hughes/Makar level when they hit the NHL. Could also see players like Ekblad and Theodore take big steps.

Canada's defense is fine. That's probably the best group aside from the US, which has definitely been a defense factory over the last decade.

Hedman, Karlsson, Dahlin, Klingberg, OEL, Ekholm, Lindholm, Brodin, Klefbom, Gustafsson, Boqvist, Sandin, Brannstrom might have something to say about that

 

[vancityluongo]

Hedman, Karlsson, Dahlin, Klingberg, OEL, Ekholm, Lindholm, Brodin, Klefbom, Gustafsson, Boqvist, Sandin, Brannstrom might have something to say about that

Fair enough. Hedman is definitely the best of the bunch right now. After that... it's close.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Chabot-Pietrangelo
Rielly-Doughty
Giordano-Makar
Burns

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

Off the top of my head, without reading comments:

Giordano - Pietrangelo
Reilly - Weber
Chabot - Doughty

Hamilton
Letang

 

[wintersej]

Why is McAvoy over Slavin?
And Petry/Krug over Werenski/Hughes?

This would be my American D:

Slavin - Carlson
McAvoy - Jones
Petry - Hughes

Werenski as the 7th guy

Looking at handedness and familiarity...

Slavin Carlson
Werenski Jones
Krug McAvoy

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Pietrangelo
Makar
Hamilton
Doughty
Giordano
Parayko
Chabot

They can figure out their handiness. No chance Rielly should make any Canada list and I'm shocked at how crappy Canada's D depth really has become over the years.

 

[dire wolf]

Surprising how much Canada's D has fallen in the last few years. Sweden, on the other hand (not paired and not in order):
Hedman
Karlsson
Lindholm
Dahlin
OEL
Klingberg
Klefbom
Ekholm
Gustafsson
Brodin

 

[Regal]

Surprising how much Canada's D has fallen in the last few years. Sweden, on the other hand (not paired and not in order):
Hedman
Karlsson
Lindholm
Dahlin
OEL
Klingberg
Klefbom
Ekholm
Gustafsson
Brodin

Is it really any better outside of Hedman? Karlsson isn't the same player he was and Klingberg has been poor this year. Gus was a one-off. Dahlin is still raw. I think it just seems better because of how the teams stack up to their previous incarnations and because Canada's D is tough to pin down due to handedness issues.

Pietrangelo
Giordano
Makar
Letang
Rielly
Hamilton
Burns
Doughty
Parayko
Chabot
Morrissey
Theodore
Weber
Ellis

There's a lot of comparables there.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Rielly-Holl
Muzzin-Dermott
Barrie-Hollowell

You can’t be serious, wheres Ceci???

 

[Wiggleboom]

Keep Hamilton off the team. Doesn’t seem like a winner or someone you can count on in a big game.

 

[aufheben]

Basically just take St. Louis' defense and sub in Giordano & Letang for Gunnarsson & Faulk.

 

[BostonBruins11]

Really brutal TBH.....sigh

 

[nbwingsfan]

Reilly - Pietrangelo
Burns - Letang
Makar - Doughty/Giordano

After the season Rielly is having I don’t want him anywhere near the top pair.

Giordano - Petro
Burns- Doughty
Rielly- Parayko
Letang

 

[PavelBrendl]

Off the top of my head, this would be a pretty dynamic D corps.

Chabot- Pietrangelo
Burns - Weber
Giordano - Makar
Parayko

 

[newsportsfan123]

Keep Hamilton off the team. Doesn’t seem like a winner or someone you can count on in a big game.

Hamilton before injury was the best defenseman in the NHL.. His analytical stats were the best out of almost everyone. His defensive game has improved massively, and probably the best two-way defenseman this season. He also made the Canes powerplay one of the best in the league, ever since his injury the Canes PP1 has been horrendous, the PP2 with Jake Gardiner has been better.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

PK and his brand will not like this at all

 

[Wiggleboom]

Hamilton before injury was the best defenseman in the NHL.. His analytical stats were the best out of almost everyone. His defensive game has improved massively, and probably the best two-way defenseman this season. He also made the Canes powerplay one of the best in the league, ever since his injury the Canes PP1 has been horrendous, the PP2 with Jake Gardiner has been better.

Fine but let's see it in some important games first before putting him on the Olympic team. He's always been a let down in big games before - he doesn't seem to have the killer instinct like most of the top players do.

 

[newsportsfan123]

Fine but let's see it in some important games first before putting him on the Olympic team. He's always been a let down in big games before - he doesn't seem to have the killer instinct like most of the top players do.

he’s been a let down before.. key word is before. he wasn’t used correctly, and to think if the canes used him on the PP1 last season he could’ve been more useful in the playoffs.