The four best?...

[rticinelli]

I've finally given up hope for a comeback this season, so I'm trying to pin down my keepers to set myself up for the next three years. I'm looking to keep 2 defensemen (maybe 3, depending on how the rest of my roster shakes out). Right now, my top 2 guys are Green and Letang...

Now for the question... I've identified Green, Letang, Yandle, and Doughty as the four best defensemen to have for the next three years.

Q1) How would you rank these four guys?
Q2) Would you rank anyone else in the top 4?

Thanks for your opinions.

[rticinelli]

Wow, did I stump the Dobberhockey forums?!

[BladesOfSteel]

1. Doughty

2. Yandle
3. Green
4. Letang

[reeveta]

1. Green
2. Doughty
3. Letang
4. Yandle

But I assume you don't own all of them right?

[wendelclark17]

Doughty
Yandle
Letang
Green

[rticinelli]

1. Green
2. Doughty
3. Letang
4. Yandle

But I assume you don't own all of them right?

Nope, just Green and Letang. I have a lot of extra pieces to play with on the trading floor, though, so just trying to pin down the two (or three, possibly) who I want to roll with moving forward.

[Buck Fush]

Considering your cats and looking at next 3 years only...

1A) Letang - yeah I said it, cause it has to be said. Might not be the leading point getter of the 4 but his peripherals like +/- and PIM should lead the pack. Multi-cat studs on the back line dont come around too often... He will be the top dman in steeltown for a long time.
1B) Green - he's here only because of his resume. Although considering his recent durability issues along with WAS new system, his owners should be concerned. What would a trade out of Washington do to his value? With wideman brought in it definitely increases the probability of that happening... And I don't think that would be so good for green. If I owned green I would trade him for any of these other guys+ cause green is still worth more, for the time being..
2) Yandle - he is really, really good. I own a few Yotes so I watch their games regularly, and considering his supporting cast, you really have to be impressed with the output.
3) Doughty - if you asked for a 10 year time horizon, this guys at the top of the list. But right now he's the youngest of the bunch and ALL young dmen have consistency issues, doughty will be no different for the next couple of years...

[RizzeeDizzee]

Although it would be great to have any or all those four guys, I think you're right to consider others who are proven producers already but seem poised to take a leap into the super elite territory within the next 3 years. After all, those guys will cost you a whole lot less to acquire yet could pay very similar dividends as the 4 you named.

Here are five that come to mind:

Enstrom - already scoring at a .8/ppg pace (better than all but Yandle) on a bad team

Pietrangelo - Even with Johnson there he was breaking out. Shattenkirk's presence will help, not hurt him. Legitimate threat for 55+ next year.

Goligoski - I think being in Pittsburgh actually was hurting him. I see him as someone capable of putting up Dan Boyle type stats, which is pretty good.

Jack Johnson - Him and Doughty will look like Lidstrom and Rafalski within the next year or two.

Alex Edler - A bit of a wild card, but even with the Vancouver logjam at D he still put up 32 points in 49 games. That will only improve.

[angus]

1. Green
2. Yandle
3. Doughty
4. Letang

[Nights]

1. Green
2. Doughty
3. Letang
4. Yandle

But I assume you don't own all of them right?

For the record, I owned, in my league in sig, after the inaugural draft (which was beginning of last year - so sept 2009) -

Phaneuf, Weber, Doughty, Letang, Yandle, Kaberle.

If I woudl've used my 1st rounder on Green instead of Lundqvist, I could've had all 4.

Had to trade all of them away (limited keeper with positional bases).

Back to the topic, that's the same ranking I have myself.

[rticinelli]

Wow, highly varied lists, which basically tells me that there's really not much separating these four guys.

The guy with Doughty isn't going to trade him, so I've decided to make a pitch for Yandle and then roll with him, Green and Letang into next year. I figure it's better to carry three defensemen who could get me 60+ than to use my 10th keeper spot on a forward that would get me 65-70.

Thanks for the responses.

[mister_mcgoo]

you know what I think? I think its a coin flip, these guys are all great to own, but don't let anyone kid you, they can't predict much better than chance when it comes down to it...

how many people were predicting ppg for Green this year? and 50 for Carlson to boot? -lol Hows that working out? Yandle and Letang most people predicted 40-45 tops and they're both gonna get closer to 60. Doughty everyone thought would get 60+ with ease, that's not gonna happen. What does this tell us? None of us have a clue, we talk a mean game but we're all only slightly better than average at prognosticating (that includes Dobber et al.). Its a tough game, injuries happen, team chemistry happens, breakouts happen, careers fluctuate and roles change

In situations like this what I usually do is pick the best players in the real world (that is provided they are legitimate offensive threats of course). That might not translate into the absolute best production in any given year, but it will give you the best balance of production and consistency year after year.

For me, the best 2 players of that group are Doughty and Yandle...they're both going to be the cornerstones of their defenses for the next decade, that's my read on it

[rticinelli]

you know what I think? I think its a coin flip, these guys are all great to own, but don't let anyone kid you, they can't predict much better than chance when it comes down to it...

how many people were predicting ppg for Green this year? and 50 for Carlson to boot? -lol Hows that working out? Yandle and Letang most people predicted 40-45 tops and they're both gonna get closer to 60. Doughty everyone thought would get 60+ with ease, that's not gonna happen. What does this tell us? None of us have a clue, we talk a mean game but we're all only slightly better than average at prognosticating (that includes Dobber et al.). Its a tough game, injuries happen, team chemistry happens, breakouts happen, careers fluctuate and roles change

In situations like this what I usually do is pick the best players in the real world (that is provided they are legitimate offensive threats of course). That might not translate into the absolute best production in any given year, but it will give you the best balance of production and consistency year after year.

For me, the best 2 players of that group are Doughty and Yandle...they're both going to be the cornerstones of their defenses for the next decade, that's my read on it

That's a good read on the situation, mcgoo. Follow-up question for you:

One of the appeals to Letang for me is the "bonus" points I get when he, Crosby and/or Malkin hook up on a goal. I've actually thought of moving him more than once this year since his value is nice and high, but have stopped myself because of the teammate connection with my two star centers. Do you think this makes sense, or would you still rather own someone like Doughty?

[lobo1969]

Ranking Letang high because he plays with offensive studs like Malkin and Crosby is a legit point. Its all about situation just as much as it is skill. You can see when when Crosby and Malkin aren't in the lineup that Letang's production sags.

Green, for the 50 games he will play this year, is 20 points off his usual pace. Why? Because Washington moved away from what they were good at and offensive studs like Backstrom and Ovi are also off their offensive paces 20-30 points each. It's all about situation that skill and pedigree sometimes can't overcome.

Now imagine if Yandle had some true offensive forwards to play with in PHX? Could we project his upside even higher? I think so...

[A Watch]

I'm going to say

Green
Yandle
Doughty
Letang

But like Mcgoo said, it's a coin flip. My perspective is that D are way harder to predict than forwards. A defenceman's points are much more dependant on the system, power play time, the forwards he's passing too ect. So any prediction I read on those four is 55, plus or minus 15 putting them all in the same group. I usually forcast Forwards at plus or minus 7 on thier projections.