Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
The only problem I see with the analysis Table 5 is that points aren't really the primary concern of most defensemen and there's certainly a lot more to playing defense than getting points.
Defencemen can be hard to quantify and there's very few stats that help.
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Yeah, that's definitely the issue with defenseman, it's much harder to quantify their value.
However I would suggest that with the top-end guys, points are much more important than with your average Dman. Being able to quarterback the PP, or be a playmaker that gets the rush started (which often leads to assists), or just getting goals period, is an important part of being considered an elite Dman. Some guys (ie. Subban) win Norris trophies based purely on their offensive production, but even the guys who we consider rock-solid all around great Dmen (ie. Lidstrom, Keith, Weber) still have higher-than-average offensive numbers.
The top end guys are easier to measure in my opinion... where it becomes much harder is when you have someone like Robyn Regehr who has non-existent point totals, but so many other intangibles.