NHL Network Top 10 D-men under 25

[JFK]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Spin it whichever way you want but when Wideman was playing the coachs had more confidence in him than Hamilton.

The coaching staff had such confidence in Wideman they put him in the press box even when healthy. I wish my bosses had such confidence in me.

"Logic"

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by JFK

The coaching staff had such confidence in Wideman they put him in the press box even when healthy. I wish my bosses had such confidence in me.

"Logic"

So you have an under performing guy that is on the verge of getting benched and one of the top young d-men in the game. Agree with this premise?

How can you possibly explain how Hamilton did not jump at least 2-3 minutes a game when Wideman was being phased out and eventually when he was sat?

How did Hamilton not step up and force Wideman out of the lineup before 60 games?

All the d-men on this list won their ice-time over veteran D-men who had more going for them than Wideman.

[Inglewood Jack]

hey I heard we're having an argument over which defenseman is better, the guy who made his way to the Flames top pairing at age 23, or the guy who will probably never have an NHL job again. I think this is gonna be a close one!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

You guys are falling for the classic Ricardo "I irrationally hate player X" troll job. Ignore it.

[savardandjokinen]

Thought Klingberg would make the list

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

https://www.nhl.com/video/nhl-tonigh...208/c-52504003

1. Werensky
2. Fowler
3. Slavin
4. Parayko
5. Jones
6. Lindholm
7. Ekblad
8. Hamilton
9. Ristolainen
10. Trouba

Yeah, just, no. No no no. Ristolainen is hot garbage and probably doesn't make my top 20. Werensky is overrated on the basis of one admittedly excellent season - one imagines a year ago they'd have put Klingberg top five too.

I do like that they're giving some love to underappreciated players like Slavin and Parayko, who really do deserve to be on the list, but they're too high.

Meanwhile, it occurs to me that Hampus Lindholm wasn't on that other list of top 20 defensemen, which is utterly insane. He's absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, #1 on this list for me. Dougie's probably top 3.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Ah more biased Ricardo stat cherry picking to fit his made up narrative. Nothing to see here.

[Tinordi]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Yeah, just, no. No no no. Ristolainen is hot garbage and probably doesn't make my top 20. Werensky is overrated on the basis of one admittedly excellent season - one imagines a year ago they'd have put Klingberg top five too.

I do like that they're giving some love to underappreciated players like Slavin and Parayko, who really do deserve to be on the list, but they're too high.

Meanwhile, it occurs to me that Hampus Lindholm wasn't on that other list of top 20 defensemen, which is utterly insane. He's absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, #1 on this list for me. Dougie's probably top 3.

I feel like Lindholm is slightly overrated by us analytics nerds but vastly underrated by the rest of hockey fans. In my opinion, he's clearly the best young defender in the NHL. He'll win a Norris trophy if he stays healthy within the next five years.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Yeah, just, no. No no no. Ristolainen is hot garbage and probably doesn't make my top 20. Werensky is overrated on the basis of one admittedly excellent season - one imagines a year ago they'd have put Klingberg top five too

Werenski is miles ahead of Klingberg defensively and bigger/stronger. Not sure he's overrated by much on these lists, I tend to think this board underrates him a tad. Ristolainen doesn't even remotely resemble hot garbage. Interesting take of yours.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

*intensely personal vendetta against Dougie Hamilton*

I am seriously thinking that you should be prohibited from discussing or mentioning Dougie Hamilton on this board. It is weird how obsessed you are with undermining his success.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Tinordi

I feel like Lindholm is slightly overrated by us analytics nerds but vastly underrated by the rest of hockey fans. In my opinion, he's clearly the best young defender in the NHL. He'll win a Norris trophy if he stays healthy within the next five years.

Agreed with most of that on Lindholm. But the Norris goes to the highest scoring dmen traditionally and I don't think Lindholm will be tops on the league in that category so I doubt he'll be a serious Norris contender

[savardandjokinen]

To me Lindholm seems overrated. He's a good dman but I don't consider him the best under 25. Werenski should not be number one yet either.

[Lanny_McDonald]

I'm a little bit shocked by this list. How can this list possibly NOT have Adam Larsson, Darnell Nurse, AND Matthew Benning on it? Because, McDavid.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher

Agreed with most of that on Lindholm. But the Norris goes to the highest scoring dmen traditionally and I don't think Lindholm will be tops on the league in that category so I doubt he'll be a serious Norris contender

Probably right; seems like he's probably never going to get enough points to win. That said, I could at least see him getting enough votes to be a nominee in the next few years. He's that good. Although playing in Anaheim doesn't help his chances either.

There's just no arguing with the data here (though it's old now): http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/a...hl-defencemen/

Or here (these numbers are ludicrous): http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/m...e-play-driver/

He's not flashy, because plays like this don't make highlight packages, but this is just the sort of thing he does really well: