[News] CBS Sports: Top 10 NHL Defencemen (#1 is from Calgary... the city)

[FanIn80]

1. Cale Makar, Avalanche

Injuries limited Cale Makar to just 60 games during the 2022-23 season, but the Avalanche defenseman is still the best at his position around the league. Even though his time on the ice was somewhat limited, Makar still racked up 66 points (17 goals and 49 assists) and was named a finalist for the Norris Trophy. Makar finished fourth in the NHL in goals (17) and showcased his ability as one of the league's top scorers at the position. In fact, the Avalanche star tallied 1.1 points-per-game, which was second among NHL defensemen behind only Erik Karlsson (1.23). Makar also reached the 200-point mark in just 195 games, becoming the fastest defenseman in NHL history to achieve that feat by passing Sergei Zubov's previous record of 207 games. At just 24 years old, Makar is easily the most offensively gifted blue-liner and possesses tremendous speed that is second to none. With 152 points over the last two seasons, Makar has easily cemented himself as the league's top defenseman.

https://www.cbssports.com/nhl/news/r...-lead-the-way/

[MrMike]

Will always hurt to see Tkachuk and Fox at the top of these lists. Oh what could have been in an alternate timeline.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by MrMike

Will always hurt to see Tkachuk and Fox at the top of these lists. Oh what could have been in an alternate timeline.

Pendulum will swing back our way as the universe knows we've been screwed with situations like these.

[d_phaneuf]

Hughes became the first defenseman to register back-to-back 60-point season since Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque did so in 1993-94

This seems like it cant be true

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

This seems like it cant be true

It's not. Hughes, Fox and Makar all did it the same two seasons, but Burns did it in 17-18 and 18-19. I stopped looking once I found that one, so there could be more from that season and/or earlier.

https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?ag...=0&pageSize=50

Edit: Actually, Burns had at least 60pts every season from 14-15 to 18-19. That's 5 straight seasons.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

This seems like it cant be true

Originally Posted by FanIn80

It's not. Hughes, Fox and Makar all did it the same two seasons, but Burns did it in 17-18 and 18-19. I stopped looking once I found that one, so there could be more from that season and/or earlier.

https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?ag...=0&pageSize=50

Edit: Actually, Burns had at least 60pts every season from 14-15 to 18-19. That's 5 straight seasons.

back to back 60 assist season maybe?

edit: Nope, Fox did that too.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

It's not. Hughes, Fox and Makar all did it the same two seasons, but Burns did it in 17-18 and 18-19. I stopped looking once I found that one, so there could be more from that season and/or earlier.

https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?ag...=0&pageSize=50

Edit: Actually, Burns had at least 60pts every season from 14-15 to 18-19. That's 5 straight seasons.

Karlsson had 60+ in each of his last 5 seasons in Ottawa (13-14 - 17-18)

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by MrMike

Will always hurt to see Tkachuk and Fox at the top of these lists. Oh what could have been in an alternate timeline.

Fox never stepped in a Flames uni so I’m bitter about it but not to the extent of how we handled Tkachuk. Wish we would’ve kept him and offered a lot of $ for him to stay from the get-go rather than a bridge to keep Frolik.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Overall, a better list than the top wingers.

I’ve got:

Makar
Fox
Josi
McAvoy
Heiskanen
Hedman
Dahlin
Hughes
Slavin
Hamilton

I know maybe some think Karlsson should be there, but I’ve got him 11/12. Needs to sacrifice some points and play a little D.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by MrMike

Will always hurt to see Tkachuk and Fox at the top of these lists. Oh what could have been in an alternate timeline.

It truly is the worst. Just the worst. Imagine if we'd kept Tkachuk, Fox and Gaudreau?

But we did not....thus...

[Redlan]

I love the draft, I scour the rankings, read the evaluations, follow the prospects, I have lots instances where had I had the selection would have hit a home run. Makar was not one of them, I thought he was selected far too early in the first round...He seems like a great person, good on him.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Locke

It truly is the worst. Just the worst. Imagine if we'd kept Tkachuk, Fox and Gaudreau?

Using whose mind-control ray? They all chose not to be here.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

back to back 60 assist season maybe?

edit: Nope, Fox did that too.

That is the case. Fox hit the 60-assist mark last season after Hughes, so Hughes was the first do it since Coffey and Bourque.

[FormerPresJamesTaylor]

Originally Posted by MrMike

Will always hurt to see Tkachuk and Fox at the top of these lists. Oh what could have been in an alternate timeline.

Same friggin draft year too. The Flames drafted two legit franchise players in 2016 and they're both gone. Have no desire to get into anything beyond that but man it hurts

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Pendulum will swing back our way as the universe knows we've been screwed with situations like these.

The hockey gods better be paying back the franchise with an illustrious career from Wolf.

[Hackey]

Draisaitl falls to the Flames instead of Bennett they're likely a legit contender.
Juolevi falls to the Flames instead of Tkachuk they're likely barely a playoff team.
Draft Kucherov instead of Wotherspoon or Granlund...contender.
Draft anyone instead of Gaudreau...yikes.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Draisaitl falls to the Flames instead of Bennett they're likely a legit contender.
Juolevi falls to the Flames instead of Tkachuk they're likely barely a playoff team.
Draft Kucherov instead of Wotherspoon or Granlund...contender.
Draft anyone instead of Gaudreau...yikes.

You had me up until there. Drafting Gaudreau wound up having zero impact on this franchise. Didn't make us a contender (ie. a deep playoff threat), and he walked for literally nothing.

Fun to watch and cheer for, but didn't move a single needle in the end.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

You had me up until there. Drafting Gaudreau wound up having zero impact on this franchise. Didn't make us a contender (ie. a deep playoff threat), and he walked for literally nothing.

Fun to watch and cheer for, but didn't move a single needle in the end.

Pretty sure he put butts in seats, scored a goal leading to a subsequent playoff round and sold a few jerseys over his time here