Personally think Hughes would be a better 4C than Kotkaniemi and Dunn over Dermott.

Why on earth is Hughes a scratch???

Did Pettersson Dubois Barzal were good enough to play at 18 ? Kotkaniemi earned a spot there

Pettersson was good enough, he was the literal best player in the 3rd best league in the world. Dubois and Barzal are hard to tell, but judging by how good they were when they came in - probably yes.

Kotkaniemi still deserves a spot, but not because Habs fans feel like it, but because he was defensively fantastic by any underlying metric. Barzal for example is dragged below his linemate DeBrusk in WAR because of his poor defensive ability, while Kotkaniemi was one of the absolute best in the league in terms of defense. Idk what Jost is doing on this roster, so you can take him off if you want Hughes on.

Georgiev is not only pretty bad, but also far from NYR's best goalie on an ELC. Shesterkin will look great this season.

Also Fabbro and Quinn Hughes are probably better options than Dermott and maybe Girardi/Chabot (who's overrated because he doesn't play defense, like at all). Somehow defense is something people only complain until their throat hurts about when it comes to Erik Karlsson, who isn't even defensively poor. Chabot plays for the same team, puts up a lot of points as well, but it's like people either favor "good Canadian kids" or just aren't bothered until the guy challenges for (and should have won) a handful or Norris trophies

Karlsson is legit the worse defensive defenseman in the league ? my eyes are bleeding watching him in is zone

Well you're incorrect by any measure ever. This is just a biased assumption people have cause they heard some eye-test praising xenophobe spew it out during a broadcast. Karlsson has one of the best defensive sticks in the game. If he was so poor in his own end, why are people taking less shots versus him when he's on the ice? And no, that's already controlled for zone starts and opposition. How come he breaks up attacks at the blue line and has a great record of doing so? How come he's one of the best at getting the puck out of his own zone, nevermind with possession - maybe the most important skill for any defenseman. You can have any static Kris Russell type of guy blocking however many shots, but Karlsson makes up for it by not getting stuck in his own zone. He couldn't lead the league in blocked shots if he wanted to - cause again he gets the puck out, and regardless the ones he doesn't block he usually deflects into the net, which is much more effective anyways since you're not limping around doing nothing.

Read the 1st sentence that was enough. Karlsson is garbage defensively

Ah, yes, I see you use the infamous tactic of deciding before you actually look into stuff. That's convenient if you never want to change your mind as well, nice going!!

I'm just interested in why Robert Thomas didn't make the team.

Karlson is good at defending rushes. That is basically it he has a solid stick and speed to defend the rush but once in the defensive zone, he lacks the ability to push guys off pucks, win puck battles or clear the front of the net. His defensive stats are very deflated due to his 60-70% offensive zone starts and therefore as a great offensive defenseman tends to control play and force un-clean break outs for the other team. But to say that he is very good defensively is not right. Karlson does not break out of his own zone well when the other team is applying pressure and once hemed in his own zone very rarely is a player to control the play and get the puck out. Although by no means is he the worst defensive defenseman in the league, he is nothing but average.

I literally told you even controlling for zone starts though. I mean I wasn't making the case for him being the best in the league, I was really just counterarguing to a guy who wouldn't give him anything but last place in the league defensively. I do agree he's pretty average