Quote:
Originally Posted by DoubleK
Cool!
2 out of the 200+ regular NHL Dmen are capable of making a career playing the off side.
Thanks for proving my point.
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I don't disagree that you'd
prefer to have guys playing their strong side, but I do think the effect is exaggerated at times. Going back to cup winning top over the last decade:
Hjalmarsson (2010/2013/2015) played the right as a lefty, and usually played some tough minutes with Campbell, Oduya, or Keith to give Brent Seabrook more highground.
One of Chara or Seidenberg played the right on the 2011 Bruins' top pair as a lefty. I don't remember who, though.
The 2012 and 2014 Kings had balanced pairings
Daley (2016/2017) Played the right as a lefty on the Penguins' top four. In fact Rutherford even identified him as a guy who played better on the right and went out to get him for that role.
The last four cup winners have had balanced pairings. Though in the case of the Lightning you occasionally had Sergachyev boosted up to a lefty-lefty top pair with Hedman, and the Blues occasionally had a righty-righty top pair of Pietrangelo-Parayko. Both teams balanced things out during the Cup Runs, but just talking about a "regular shift" it wasn't always the case. Most would agree that Hedman, McDonagh, and Sergechyev are consistently the three best defensemen on the Lightning... all lefties.