"Look. It's no secret that good teams have good players. You're not going to blow anyone away with that take. But the specificity of the "second-best defenseman" theory might just be onto something. (Shoutout, Grandpa.) Yes, there are rosters where all the defenders are pretty good. Maybe that is evident in New Jersey, where young risers like Like Hughes and Simon Nemec are insulated by Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brenden Dillon."
"Lists are subjective, of course, but let's take a look at the best #2 defenders in the game. 1. Devon Toews - Colorado Avalanche (#1 - Cale Makar) I hear you already..."he is playing next to the best defenseman on the planet," or "anyone would look good next to Makar." You're right. But not this good. Toews is an elite positional defender, moves the puck with speed, and has the underlying numbers that give Colorado the best #2 in the NHL."
A traditional theory claims that the team possessing the league's second-best defenseman often becomes the best team. Roster examples show variability: some teams have uniformly good defenders, exemplified by New Jersey's combination of young risers and veteran insulators, while others feature a superstar 1A supported by average partners, as with Roman Josi's situation. Some teams lack competitive bluelines entirely. A ranking of the NHL's top #2 defensemen places Devon Toews first for his elite positional defense, puck speed, and strong underlying numbers, and Aaron Ekblad appears next for Florida.
Read at Puck Prose
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]