Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
I think both Andersson's agent and Conroy are valuing him as a top-pairing guy, but the rest of the league don't see him that way. The Athletic did a piece the other day ranking all of the d-corps in the league. The Flames' were ranked 28th:
Andersson doesn't think he's going to get the kind of contract he wants unless he shows last season was an anomaly. And maybe it was. But if he does have another season like last, his value - both in contract terms and in what teams are willing to trade Conroy for him - will drop further.
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Same article.....the writer demonstrates their deep understanding of what constitutes a good defencemen with this banger right off the top.
Quote:
1. Edmonton Oilers
Current quality: 99th percentile
Looking for: None
One of the reasons the Oilers were able to march back to the Stanley Cup Final was a defensive group so deep it was able to survive an injury to Mattias Ekholm, a top-pair star. That was made possible by the addition of Jake Walman, a lower-lineup luxury who gave the Oilers a heavy advantage in easier minutes.
Edmonton’s group is a strong mix of offensive mobility and defensive suppression throughout, led by Evan Bouchard — a no-doubt franchise defenseman. This is a huge position of strength, one that could be parlayed into fixing an area of need elsewhere.
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That same article has the Panthers as the 14th best group of defencemen. It states that they would squeak into the top ten of both Ekblad and Schmidt were both re-signed but it implies they would be nowhere near as great as the NHL best Edmonton Oilers backend.