More than a year ago NSH traded a promising defenseman, Seth Jones for a first line center, so looking back,
Is Seth Jones better than any of the current defenseman the predators have in their top 4?

Subban is unequivocally better than Jones, and while he's much more comparable to Josi, Ekholm, and Ellis, the only one I'd say he's about equal with IS Ellis.

He's a great D-Man but i really don't know if he's as good as any of NSH's top 4 ... Possibly Ellis, but maybe not.

1. Josi
2. Subban
3. Jones
4. Ekholm
5. Ellis

fair i guess.

1. Subban
2. Ekholm
3. Josi
4. Jones
5. Ellis

1) Why is Subban ahead of Josi, and 2) Ekholm ahead of Josi?? i disagree.

Josi is one

1 Josi
2 Subban
3 Ekholm
4 Jones
5 Ellis

All of them are top 4 defensemen for sure

A lot of people won't like this list:

1. Subban
2. Jones
3. Josi
4. Ellis
5. Ekholm

Yeah, i don't that much ... i don't see how Josi is #3.

1 Josi
2 Subban
3 Ekholm
4 Ellis
5 Jones

4 and 5 might be switched around.

Josi is not as good defensively as ekholm or subban

I think Subban is a better all-around player. Same with Jones. They both have the ability to take over a game in any zone.

He's definitely as good DEFENSIVELY as Subban ... Josi maybe doesn't have the offence, but he's great defensively.

Josi is actually the worst defensively of the big four. He's probably the best offensively, but he is not that great defensively.

Offense:
1. Josi
2. Subban
3. Ellis
4. Ekholm

Defense:
1. Ekholm
2. Subban
3. Ellis
4. Josi

Personally, I would take Jones over Ryan Ellis. These would be my rankings of them, including offensive talent and defensive talent

1.) Subban
2.) Ekholm
3.) Josi
4.) Jones
5.) Ellis

Here's an interesting question: Ryan Ellis seems to be near or at the bottom of this extremely high quality list. His contract, which currently only pays him $2.5mil per season, is up after the 2018-19 season. Assuming the cap continues to go up at $2million per season (for a cap of $79 million) what is the per season value of Ryan Ellis?

Offense:
1 Subban
2 Ellis
3 Josi
4 Ekholm
Maybe switch around 2 and 3.

Defence:
1 Josi
2 Ekholm
3 Subban
4 Ellis

I dont get what your not understanding. Roman Josi is not better than Ekholm defensively

1) Subban
2) Josi
3) Ekholm
4) Jones
5) Ellis

Well that depends. Given the fact that a lockout is imminent, I am not sure how to accurately value Ryan Ellis. Don't get me wrong, Ellis is a very high quality player of a very high quality list, but Given the fact that Josi is up as well, that might play into if they both stay. I can see Josi getting around 7M per year, and Ellis around 5.5 per year (similar to Justin Shultz), but if a scenario of "Thornton/Marlaue" where Thornton would have taken a lesser pay cut to fit Patrick in, I am not sure how it would play out.

If I were Ellis' or Josi's agent, I would focus on a backloaded deal, with a relatively low Cap Hit, but a substantial signing bonus being the majority of my income. If I was that, here is how I would structure a 5 year deal:

Roman Josi : 5M x 5 =yr. (25TV) Cap Hit 5M. NHL salary in chronological years : 3M/3M/5M/7M/7M ; signing bonus in chronological years : 1M/1M/2M/3M/3M

I can maintain my high standard of living w/ an earned income of 4M for the first two seasons and then increase my standard of living in the following seasons. Tennessee doesn't have a state income tax, so I would be able to get the majority of that money as direct income.

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Also for NSH

Offense:
1) Subban
2) Josi
3) Ellis
4) Ekholm

Defence:
1) Ekholm
2) Subban
3) Ellis
4) Josi