You have consistently misrepresented what he is, so I think perhaps before venturing opinions you should watch him play more. There is no argument for any other bruin being their best player. There is no argument for Chara covering up for him last season.

This is like me saying Matthews is overrated because he would have barely crossed the 20 goal mark if it weren’t for Zach Hyman being a passing wizard.

No it's like saying Matthews is ovrrated because every Leaf fan thinks he is a 60 goal scorer and I think he's a 50 goal scorer.

I'm not trying to say McAvoy is bad. Which is clearly how you are interpreting this. He would probably be the best dman on the Leafs if he were on this team. But he's not top 10 best in the league or anything crazy like that like you seem to be implying. Where would you rate him in the league? Make me a list of your top D man in the league until you get to McAvoy.

And to say there's no argument as to who the bruins best player is when you have Pastrnak scoring at a 60 goal pace and Bergeron winning the Selke what seems like every year, come on. What kind of fan are you? Give those guys some credit.

He's carried Chara for fre years now. When pucks were dumped in (no matter the side) McAvoy had to retrieve them. McAvoy was also forced to play a safer game in the o-zone because Chara loses a foot race to 99% of the NHL. Even with that McAvoy ranks top 20 among d-men in 5v5 production over the last 3 years. The advanced numbers also show that Chara away from McAvoy is awful.

FWIW I'd probably have him in my top 10 Dmen in the league; if not then just outside. Dude's really good.

Yeah that's a fair opinion I just disagree, that's why he's here. I have a lower opinion of him than most.

I’m the kind of fan that watches the games. There’s simply no other conclusion if you watch the games.

He is absolutely top ten in the league, and i don’t see an argument against that either.

Bruins fans think he is the bruin that plays the most minutes on the team, the most important minutes on the team, that drives success more than any other player on the team. They also think that the bruins success coincided precisely with mcavoy becoming their number one d man (which also happened to happen the very second he stepped on NHL ice). As for that top ten in the league, maybe that’s tough to call. Maybe he would need something like a top ten finish in the Norris or something. Oh wait....he’s got that too.

Here, I’ll give you ammo for your argument that I overrate him. Top five.

The Norris voters agree with you.

To be fair, that doesn't always mean much, at least not in my view. He's my prediction to win the Norris this year, though.

Woah, that would be something.

Normally I would agree with you, but i think when the offensive production (points) isn’t at an elite level, i think a Norris vote carries a TON of weight. McAvoy was 40th in points among d men.

Hell need PP1 time imo to have the points to be a Norris contender...sadly offense seems to be a favorite metric for an award for defensmen.

You can't even explain why you disagree and have nothing to support your claim lol

Canadiens overrated is Petry. Any real Habs fan knows his defense is bad.

As a fan of the Oilers I don't think Koskinen is overrated. He's not a great goalie but he's not bad. He's average imo

This basically encapsulates what I'm trying to get across. The fact that your statement about Norris votes and offense is completely true, is why I don't always put much weight into the Norris voting. While I agree with the people who voted for him, I just don't view the fact that any individual player got votes as a good defense for where I would rank said player. That was all I meant.

It's also why I expect him to at least be in the running for the Norris this coming year. With the departure of Krug, I figure he'll be getting the #1 PP minutes, likely up his point totals. Once he gets more consideration because of his points, people who overlooked him will start to realize how good the rest of his game is.

Tavares is underrated in my opinion. Of course, I get it, if you do one of these, you will have complaints on a 31 guys there so I won't really criticize you.

Ok Tavares may be overrated as a captain but lately underrated as a player. Everyone is judging him off an injury season (in which he was still near a point per game) and saying he has declined. Like if you suffered an oblique injury and a broken finger you might decline a bit too for a year lol.

Underrated?! Yikes care to explain?

Just in time for him to get a fat new contract!

Well, just as long as he keeps on earning it.

For what it’s worth, there were only two d men in the top ten of Norris voting that did not lead their team in points by a defensemen: Slavin and McAvoy.

That's why I don't put too much stock into Norris votes in general.