Why Erik Karlsson should win the Hart

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Yeah, sure Doughtys not elite.

You have to be at least top 5 in your position imo to be considered elite.

I'd rank the D-men

1. Karlsson
2. Weber
3. PK Subaan
4. Keith
5. Suter

Doughty top D in the league? Under what merit? Points? Nope and he's not elite defensively either so not sure how anyone can say he's the top D-man in the NHL.

Is he a great defenceman? Yep.

[N-E-B]

I'd argue Shea Weber isn't even the best defenseman on his own team, let alone 2nd in the entire NHL.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

Doughty>Karlsson

Karlsson is the best offensive D in the league. Doughty is the best D in the league.

A case can be made for Doughty being better than Karlsson because of his all around play. What I disagree with though is that Karlsson isn't just the best offensive defenseman, he's the best in a very long time. He's better offensively than Seguin, yet plays defense. He's in place to have the best offensive season since Bourque in 1994, yet in an era with waaaaay fewer goals. Let that sink in. It's truly ridiculous how good he is offensively. Sure he misses some one on one's against, but he more than makes up for it going the other way. He's one month older than TJ fricken Brodie. It's ridiculous.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

You have to be at least top 5 in your position imo to be considered elite.

I'd rank the D-men

1. Karlsson
2. Weber
3. PK Subaan
4. Keith
5. Suter

Doughty top D in the league? Under what merit? Points? Nope and he's not elite defensively either so not sure how anyone can say he's the top D-man in the NHL.

Is he a great defenceman? Yep.

Twice Norris finalist, including last year, voted one of the top 2 defencemen at the olympics ( with Karlsson). He could have way more points in another system, and, yes, he is an elite defensive defenceman.

[Philly06Cup]

People ranking players on other teams always bugs me. How much hockey to people actually watch? What sample do you have to justify your rankings? People just love to rank and compare things, even if they are not qualified to do so.

[Street Pharmacist]

@DimFilipovic

That was Erik Karlsson's 61st point. The only defenseman to have more than that in any of the past 4 seasons was.. Erik Karlsson.

[BigTuna]

Karlsson is the best D-Man in the world. The anti-offence snobs make me laugh. Karlsson is incredible.
There comes a point when better "All-Around" matters a lot less when a D-Man can get 90-100 points in this era.
Do people have any idea how much he is doing for his team?

[icecube]

Karlsson haters are delusional. End of story. Best defenseman in the world.

[Tinordi]

Karlsson scores points at an unrivalled level to his peers over the past three decades.

But can he play the body? No?

Terrible!

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

You have to be at least top 5 in your position imo to be considered elite.

I'd rank the D-men

1. Karlsson
2. Weber
3. PK Subaan
4. Keith
5. Suter

Doughty top D in the league? Under what merit? Points? Nope and he's not elite defensively either so not sure how anyone can say he's the top D-man in the NHL.

Is he a great defenceman? Yep.

What an arbitrary reason to not call Drew Doughty an elite defenseman.

He absolutely is. Stop talking nonsense. The world is round.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

If only he could play defense like Lidstrom

Right, because it didn't take Lidstrom nine years to win his first Norris or anything...

Erik Karlsson is 25 years old. He's won twice. I shudder to think what a destroyer of worlds he'll be when he has nine years in the league.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

You have to be at least top 5 in your position imo to be considered elite.

I'd rank the D-men

1. Karlsson
2. Weber
3. PK Subaan
4. Keith
5. Suter

Doughty top D in the league? Under what merit? Points? Nope and he's not elite defensively either so not sure how anyone can say he's the top D-man in the NHL.

Is he a great defenceman? Yep.

Lol Subban over Doughty and Keith. Don't get me started.

[Samonadreau]

I like how just because someone says another D may be better all around than Karlsson they are Karlsson haters. The guy is insane - non-debatable, but if I had to choose I would choose Doughty.

Its the same as the debate between Teows/Kopitar and Crosby. You can make arguments for both. If you look at points alone than Crosby is your guy. Teows and Kopitar have other elements to their game that dont wind up in the points column.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Lol Subban over Doughty and Keith. Don't get me started.

At least Subban has hardware. I'd love to know why Ryan Suter's 2010 silver medal and one-time Norris nomination make him better than the guy who's been Mike Babcock's number 1 defenseman on two Olympic teams featuring both Shea Weber and Duncan Keith.

[Karl]

As great as Karlsson is (and he is great), I think you could legitimately make arguments that Doughty and Keith are better.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Karl

As great as Karlsson is (and he is great), I think you could legitimately make arguments that Doughty and Keith are better.

Swap Karlsson with Keith or Doughty and I would argue Chicago still wins three Cups and LA still wins two. Those are teams with multiple Hall of Famers on the ice and behind their benches. They are consistently two of the best constructed teams in the league.

The Ottawa Senators have one future Hall of Famer, Erik Karlsson. They change coaches every 18 months. They just acquired 7x7 worth of Dion Phaneuf, and are paying Bobby Ryan more money than any other forward on their roster.

In the modern NHL, a defenseman is only as good as his ability to move the puck out of the zone. And nobody is better at that than Erik Karlsson.

[Street Pharmacist]

Great article summing up my thoughts

So why are we discussing Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr in an article about Erik Karlsson? Context. Is. Everything. When we adjust for era scoring levels, season length, and roster size, Orr and Coffey are the only two defenders in NHL history who have displayed a greater ability to produce offence than Karlsson. And Karlsson hasn’t had the benefit of playing alongside the kind of talent those two did.

If we explore how much offensive contribution the individual defenders made (or in the case of Karlsson, are making) in their peak offensive season, it paints a startling picture of how important Karlsson is to his team. It also illustrates how lonely an island he is on in comparison to this group.

Underappreciated generational talents tend to take a while to gain the recognition they deserve and Karlsson is no different. Like Alex Ovechkin and his all-time goal scoring results in Washington, Karlsson should be a player you make an effort to watch whenever you get the chance. Based on what we are seeing out of him this year, it might take another 30 years for a comparable talent to come along.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/e...ration-player/

[saillias]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

A case can be made for Doughty being better than Karlsson because of his all around play. What I disagree with though is that Karlsson isn't just the best offensive defenseman, he's the best in a very long time. He's better offensively than Seguin, yet plays defense. He's in place to have the best offensive season since Bourque in 1994, yet in an era with waaaaay fewer goals. Let that sink in. It's truly ridiculous how good he is offensively. Sure he misses some one on one's against, but he more than makes up for it going the other way. He's one month older than TJ fricken Brodie. It's ridiculous.

Yup. A legitimate Hart candidate and people think Doughty should win the Norris, lol

There's always a Doughty in the league. A Karlsson comes around, every 15 years?

[ricardodw]

So winning has nothing to do with it?

Does Karlsson make the players around him better?

How much worse would Ottawa be without Karlsson? They have only 5 more wins than Edmonton.... 7 more than Toronto's worst in the league 20.

[PeteMoss]

After seeing the highlights of the Sens game today, this might not be the best day to be discussion Karlsson's defensive game.