Team: 2019-20 Custom Team

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 26, 2019

Published: Jul. 26, 2019

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Here’s my Top 15 Defenders,

(NOT ALL PLAYERS WILL GET A HUGE EXPLANATION)
There a lot of opinion here so no one should freak out.
*ATTENTION* : I’m also using age as a factor, so for example my bias says put Brent Burns ahead of Seth Jones as a quick example of my list, and my unbiased opinion still would put Burns 1 spot ahead of Jones, but when I factor in age, I have to put Burns below Jones, as Jones is the youngest player on the list and yet he’s so high up meaning if I was GM I’d probably pick Jones as he is not even in his “prime” compared to Burns who may have gotten better and better and keeps improving still but he’s going to eventually regress a lot soon, you can’t play almost 30 minutes on average in the regular season and playoffs consistently at that age and not put a wear on your body, so age will possibly move guys up or down for me. Additionally I am factoring it who they play for. So someone like Weber impacts his team greatly and you notice that if you follow the Habs. But players like Hedman or Josi are sometimes talked about as “they play on stacked teams, so they get a bump from that they really aren’t THAT GOOD”. Which is a poor opinion, I understand it, but you can watch a player and tell if they benefit from their team and pad their stats or they are the product of their own skill and hard work. By no means would I say Josi and Hedman don’t benefit from being on good teams statistically but if you know Hockey, or watch it consistently you can easily see the impact they put on the game.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: Zach Werenski (bad year for him), Heiskanen, Dahlin, Shea Weber, PK Subban, Pesce (And Vlasic :( lol)

HONOURABLE MENTION 16. Slavin:
The hurricanes have built a monster of a young D core to build around, I have Slavin ahead of Pesce like most people but you argue either deserve on a top 15 list. I think Slavin has a more of a monster year this coming season, and if Carolina can make it back to the dance this year, Slavin will be leading the D cores charge as a major reason to why they make it back.

15. Erik Karlsson:
Karlsson is purely on this list for 2 reasons. One; Ottawa, I live in Canada as a San Jose fan, so I’ve seen Karlsson his entire career from Canada, he was everything you’ve heard, he’d have defensive lapses yet control a game when he was having a off/ mediocre night. But when he was on, Karlssons ability to impact a NHL hockey game was on par with Crosby, Malkin, Ovi, basically big names. You may not agree with that Statement but remember this is talking about what he WAS, not now, this is a huge reason why he’s made even position 15. Two; Despite having some defensive struggles this year in San Jose he was almost phenomenal you could say at times, their were times you go “Karlsson you need to hop off the ice now” and than one shift later you’re going “Karlsson please never hop off the ice”. The point is despite his poor play at times I would say there were times this year were you could argue he was San Jose’s best player for weeks at times. And I am on of the fans who saw Karlsson playing at the end of those last few playoff games and was praying for Karlsson to be shut down (taken off the bench) for the sake of the team and the sake of his own good. But prior to that (and people hate hearing it), he was playing on 1 leg yet still better than a lot of players in the league. Impacted the game, basically a point per game. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a liability. Karlsson is on the list because of what he was, and what he still can be. But he had a good year offensively you could say, but not a great year defensively.

14. McDonagh:
If you are someone who has seen Ryan fall into Hedmans shadow and demise you opinion on him you are very wrong, McDonagh was one of the top players in the league at the first half of this season, he is very good and don’t let his team shadow you judgement of him.

13. Ekman Larsson:
Sweden really owns defensive studs, Larsson is almost what Karlsson could become if he can change his game to become more stable as he shouldn’t try to be what he used to be if he can’t. Ekman Larsson is a stud who’s on a small market which is a downfall for him. Some ARI fans would argue he’s top 10 and I wouldn’t blame them. If ARIZONA makes the playoffs this year, the rest of the NHL fan base can catch a glimpse of what Yotes praise.
12. Klingberg:
I don’t think we’ve seen what Klingberg fully has to offer. I wanted to put him below Karlsson and Larsson but Karlssons injury saga made me nix that quickly, and Klingberg has been in Norris conversation a lot in recent seasons, rightfully so and although Larsson may be a close tie with Klingberg, I think Klingberg brings more offence to the table that Ekman and still not a huge liability defensively.

11. Ekholm
Possibly one of the most underrated defenders in the NHL (who isn’t name Vlasic lol). But actually though, Ekholm is similar to the McDonagh, he’s gotta behind Josi, a young and new Fabbro being raves about, Subban (no longer). All of whom are in the spotlight whenever Nashville is talked about defensively. Ekholm would be on 97.9% of teams top pairs.

10. Parayko/ Pietrangelo
9. Pietrangelo/ Parayko
Colton and Pietrangelo are huge reasons why St Louis won that cup. We can be quiet about Jordan Binnington who people argue should have won the conn smythe, Parayko and Pietrangelo both had huge cases for the Conn additionally. Parayko offensively hasn’t been able to keep up with Piet but some can argue he makes up for it everywhere else in the game.
8. Giordano:
I believe this past year was one of dont destroy me for this low of a ranking. Doesn’t take away from his play. He’s a force.
7. Doughty:
Personally I can’t say I’ve given doughty the respect he deserves (mainly cause he’s San Jose’s rival lol), but Doughty is amount those you can consider a “franchise defence man”. He had a rough year but he has been great throughout his career and among the best players in the league (that includes F and D) at points.

6. Brent Burns:
I try not to use Bias when talking about players, and still I can’t put Burns out of the top 8. Anyone in the Top 10 has a case to be moved with another. But Burns has amazing year, a few records matched, and improved defensively. When he won the Norris did I think he REALLY should have won it, no. But I loved it. He had a case this year but he brings an offensive punch like almost no other. Burns arguably impacts the game as a top 5 most impactful player. impactful being the key word. But at the end of the day he is not on the defensive level as those above him. And at the end of the day it may be lost in nowadays narrative but these are defence man, defence has to have more value than offence.

5. Seth Jones
I hope I don’t get torn apart for throwing Seth Jones as a top 5. But if you told me to pick a defender to start a franchise with as of today, I would have to put Seth Jones here, he’s the youngest guy here as mentioned at the top. 24, not even close to hitting his full stride and yet he’s offensively impactful, and a shut down man. He’s got grit and finesse, he can still improve but you give me a 34 year old Burns who I love and wish to retire his jersey and hang in the rafters, or a 24 year old who looks to prime for at-least 10 more years of elite hockey. I’d have to tell yeah Jones is worth it. He’s all that he’s talked up to be. If I was to put Jones on Nashville instead of being traded, idk what would happen but I believe he’d be top 3.

4. Rielly:
Every leafs fan has already told us all how Rielly shoulda or could, probably would say shoulda, won Norris. And you can’t argue them if he was on your team, he is similar to the offensive upside Burns brings but he’s younger, and more consistently liable. Doesn’t mean he’s not got his lapses but at 25 and the impact he had for the leafs and was leading the league at the start of the year for a bit, you can’t see anything but a start to his full potential being reached that leafs fans hoped he become.

3. Carlson:
These last few years it seems that one of the easiest arguments is Carlson being snubbed of Norris or snubbed of even the chance of winning/ being nominated and not that of who should have won out of the nominees.

2. Hedman:
Ooo look he put Hedman at #2 he’s a mental case. Personally if you told me hedmans #1 I would not argue.

#1. Roman Josi:
If I’m honest idk why, if you told that I can pick either at the age of 18 with what we know now and I can only have one of them on my team. I’d probably go crazy. But something about Josi makes me grab him over Hedman.