The Athletic: Best puck moving defensemen

[SportsJunky]

How many Jets were on that list again?

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

and Kinnvall and Lerby ^^^

I don't think we have any gaps on D- unless you're deadset on defensive handedness.

We have 3 top 4 defenseman signed for next season. I would say that is a pretty jarring gap.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by BigErnSalute_16

This was his 2nd season, no need to force him into all the defensive zone starts right off the bat.

Maybe you have numbers to support that but just going off what I saw I wouldn't say he was the most sheltered as he was the first person moved up to play with Giordano when Brodie was not there. They obviously trust him to play in the defensive end.

With Hamonic gone Andersson will be getting a lot more d-zone faceoffs than he has seen before.

I wouldn't be shocked if he gets paired with Gio to help him out.

Either that or Hanifin gets Stone as his defense zone partner.


Hamonic leaves a HUGE hole on the PK.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

With Hamonic gone Andersson will be getting a lot more d-zone faceoffs than he has seen before.

I wouldn't be shocked if he gets paired with Gio to help him out.

Either that or Hanifin gets Stone as his defense zone partner.


Hamonic leaves a HUGE hole on the PK.

Maybe, but I am not especially worried about the PK. Calgary's penalty kill improved a little bit after Hamonic was injured. Forbert really helped with that, and I suspect Andersson—who was already getting top-three ice-time on the PK—will continue to see that trend increase.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

With Hamonic gone Andersson will be getting a lot more d-zone faceoffs than he has seen before.

I wouldn't be shocked if he gets paired with Gio to help him out.

Either that or Hanifin gets Stone as his defense zone partner.


Hamonic leaves a HUGE hole on the PK.

What are you on about? The PK will be just fine. Andersson's DZS% was already way up this year. Protected? They are giving him more responsibility in the defensive zone, not less.

Rasmus didn't miss a game all year. He's a warrior at a very young age. His average TOI was up considerably as was every other meaningful stat. His E+/- was 2nd on the team behind only Tkachuk. I think you are trying to create a false narrative here.

Care to talk about Winnipeg's 5 on 5 performance?

[TheScorpion]

Just so we're all on the same page here, here's a list of all the Jets' dmen this year who played 10+ games, sorted by average ice time.

Neal Pionk (71 GP)
Josh Morrissey (65 GP)
Dylan DeMelo (10 GP)
Dmitry Kulikov (51 GP)
Luca Sbisa (44 GP)
Tucker Poolman (57 GP)
Nate Beaulieu (38 GP)
Sami Niku (17 GP)
Anthony Bitetto (51 GP)
Carl Dahlstrom (15 GP)

Plus Ville Heinola, who played eight games.

That's right... Luca Sbisa played a lot of the year in the Jets' top-four. That's what the Flames are going up against. I wouldn't be concerned about the Flames' defense so much.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

ricardodw: those are questions for the coach, Andersson shouldn't be criticized for them

It doesn’t have to be viewed as criticizing Anderson.

The stats are achieved in the situations in which the player is deployed. If you are going to compare players on stats, nothing wrong at all with making note of the differences in context

Andersson can’t choose the situation in which he is deployed, and we can’t know the impact on his stats of being deployed differently

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Just so we're all on the same page here, here's a list of all the Jets' dmen this year who played 10+ games, sorted by average ice time.

Neal Pionk (71 GP)
Josh Morrissey (65 GP)
Dylan DeMelo (10 GP)
Dmitry Kulikov (51 GP)
Luca Sbisa (44 GP)
Tucker Poolman (57 GP)
Nate Beaulieu (38 GP)
Sami Niku (17 GP)
Anthony Bitetto (51 GP)
Carl Dahlstrom (15 GP)

Plus Ville Heinola, who played eight games.

That's right... Luca Sbisa played a lot of the year in the Jets' top-four. That's what the Flames are going up against. I wouldn't be concerned about the Flames' defense so much.

Hate having to defend a player like Sbisa BUT +1 playing top-4 minutes with the Jets due to injuries and the #1 guy leaving the team at the start of the season. He has 32 Career playoff games 12 with Vegas 2 years ago playing 16 minutes a game total of 13 playoff wins.

He will be the #7 guy for the Jets behind Poolman and Beaulieu (17 playoff games)

On the Flames

Gio 13 playoff games 3 wins
Brodie 20 playoff games 6 wins
Andersson 5 play off games 1 win
Hanifin 5 playoff games 1 win

The Flames clear cut top 4 43 playoff games 11 wins

Gustaffson 5 Playoff games and Stone 4 playoff games are the only other Flames d-men to have played in the playoffs


Sbisa is a great #7 guy. Bietto #8 has 14 playoff games with Nashville

[TheScorpion]

So just because a guy has played playoff games makes him good?

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

So just because a guy has played playoff games makes him good?

Good to have around... sort of like Versteeg's stint as a Flame played his last 4 of 93 playoff games as a Flame and was one of the better Flames in 16-17,

Engelland another example where playoff experience showed.

[TheScorpion]

Engo had played in two series before he came to the Flames and lost both.

[EVERLAST]

Man I wish Valimaki wasn't in the position he's in ....love to see him play and know what an impact he'd make but I rather get to watch years more of him blossom and be another Norris winner.
We have such a good defense right now.... so under rated and overlooked IMHO.

It'll show against the Jets . If our forwards back check a little more responsiy this series is over fast.

By back checking better the defense can gamble more and be more involved offensively.

[schteve_d]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

We have such a good defense right now.... so under rated and overlooked IMHO.

We've got some decent size on the back end now too, even with the loss of Hamonic. I think that's going to be important against the Jets big forwards.

[David Struch]

10/20
Phil Housley
though small, played a big offensive game, scoring 19 goals and 66 points in his rookie season, Not satified with that tally, he put up 31 goals and 77 points in his sophomore year. What made Housley so incredible to watch was his incredible puck handling skills, which is comparable to other greats like Orr and Coffey

https://www.thesportster.com/hockey/...n-nhl-history/

[BigErnSalute_16]

Originally Posted by David Struch

https://www.thesportster.com/hockey/...n-nhl-history/

What's the relevance of this?

[getbak]

After Hamonic's injury, the Flames played 14 games. Andersson, Brodie, and Hanifin were the only d-men to play all 14 games.

In those 14 games, Andersson led the Flames defence in total ice time and was second behind Hanifin in total PP ice time, and second behind Brodie in total PK ice time.

During that 14 game stretch, when Andersson was on the ice on the PP, the Flames scored 3 PP goals and allowed 0 SH goals. When Andersson was on the ice on the PK, the Flames score 1 SH goal and allowed 1 PP goal against. At even-strength, the Flames scored 22 goals and allowed 12 against when Andersson was on the ice.

Andersson's +10 even-strength goal differential over the final 14 games of the season was the best on the team. Mangiapane was a +9, Backlund, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk were all +5, and Hanifin was the second-best d-man at +4.


Also, over the final 14 games, Andersson's Offensive Zone start percentage was the lowest among all Flames defencemen.

[Crown Royal]

Ras really was a beast in the latter part of the season.

[BigErnSalute_16]

Originally Posted by getbak

After Hamonic's injury, the Flames played 14 games. Andersson, Brodie, and Hanifin were the only d-men to play all 14 games.

In those 14 games, Andersson led the Flames defence in total ice time and was second behind Hanifin in total PP ice time, and second behind Brodie in total PK ice time.

During that 14 game stretch, when Andersson was on the ice on the PP, the Flames scored 3 PP goals and allowed 0 SH goals. When Andersson was on the ice on the PK, the Flames score 1 SH goal and allowed 1 PP goal against. At even-strength, the Flames scored 22 goals and allowed 12 against when Andersson was on the ice.

Andersson's +10 even-strength goal differential over the final 14 games of the season was the best on the team. Mangiapane was a +9, Backlund, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk were all +5, and Hanifin was the second-best d-man at +4.


Also, over the final 14 games, Andersson's Offensive Zone start percentage was the lowest among all Flames defencemen.

Also finished that stretch with 1 G 6 A as well.

Really just some fantastic hockey from Ras

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by getbak

After Hamonic's injury, the Flames played 14 games. Andersson, Brodie, and Hanifin were the only d-men to play all 14 games.

In those 14 games, Andersson led the Flames defence in total ice time and was second behind Hanifin in total PP ice time, and second behind Brodie in total PK ice time.

During that 14 game stretch, when Andersson was on the ice on the PP, the Flames scored 3 PP goals and allowed 0 SH goals. When Andersson was on the ice on the PK, the Flames score 1 SH goal and allowed 1 PP goal against. At even-strength, the Flames scored 22 goals and allowed 12 against when Andersson was on the ice.

Andersson's +10 even-strength goal differential over the final 14 games of the season was the best on the team. Mangiapane was a +9, Backlund, Gaudreau, and Tkachuk were all +5, and Hanifin was the second-best d-man at +4.


Also, over the final 14 games, Andersson's Offensive Zone start percentage was the lowest among all Flames defencemen.

Debbie Downer here:

In the last 14 games 5 were against the weak sister of the poor.... (SJ Ana twice LA and Detroit) teams in the bottom 7 of the league that were out of the 24 team playoff race.

The Flames went 4-1 on this games. out scoring them 24-13

Andersson had 3 assists and was +8.

so in the other 9 games (against teams that were not actively booking tee times) he had a 1 goal and 3 assists and was a +2


Great numbers for Andersson but not so off the charts great as he did against weaker opposition that the Flames were kicking around.

[TheScorpion]

Yes because points and plus-minus are by far the pinnacle stats for assessing defenders.