Quote:
Originally Posted by Thom Yorke
Suter benefiting from Weber goes both ways, but they're both elite defensemen regardless. Suter is the most reliable defenseman in the league IMO. He's not the very best, but his consistency and reliability is up there with anyone in the league.
I think Chara and Weber are at the top, then Suter comes next in a group with Keith and Pietrangelo. If Doughty gets back on a track with a full season as an elite D-man, he's right back up there, but he's been too inconsistent the past couple of years. Still top 10 though.
Karlsson? Ugh... The thing about all of the guys I mentioned is that every single one of them are considered elite both offensively and defensively. I would never put a glorified forward in the conversation for best defenseman in the league. Mike Green 2.0.
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I like Pietrangelo as a potential top 5 guy too, but Karlsson is pretty untouchable
in the role he plays. These past few seasons we've seen a premium on puck-movers and guys who can run a powerplay, two things Karlsson does better than nearly anyone not named Campbell. Hell, Wideman got 5 mil. from Feaster this year and he's a 4-5-6 guy at best. Karlsson plays over 25 minutes a night and has a very respectable +/- for a 22 yr. old playing on a middle-of-the-pack Senators team. There's a good reason he got a Norris nomination this year despite not having the shutdown ability that we classically associate with premier defensemen.
As far as reliability, Suter can definitely be counted on in his own end but there are a host of guys who do what he does just as well. Seabrook, Girardi, Gorges, Beauchemin, these guys all faced a higher QoC and had comparable Corsi and Corsi/Rel numbers despite playing more PK minutes than Suter. I like the guy as a player but I think that he got a massive overpayment in a market that massively overpays D-men. I like the move to get him but we'll see just how much he improves the mediocre defense the Wild iced last year.