Cornerstone Defensemen on Remaining 8 Teams

[sweetcelly]

Each of the eight teams remaining in the playoffs boast a young stud cornerstone defenseman - all 25 or younger. If you were building a franchise from scratch, what order would you draft them:

Vegas- Shea Theodore (25)
Vancouver - Quinn Hughes (20)
Colorado - Cale Makar (21)
Dallas - Miro Heiskanen (21)

Philadelphia - Ivan Provorov (23)
NY Islanders - Ryan Pulock (25)
Tampa Bay - Mikhail Sergachev (22)
Boston - Charlie McAvoy (22)

Considering best overall defensemen, not fantasy upside.

[Eskimo Brother]

Heiskanen
Provorov
Makar/Hughes
Theodore
McAvoy
Pulock
Sergachev

[The Comish]

Heiskanen
Makar
Hughes
Theodore
Sergachev
Provorov
McAvoy
Pulock

[chuckcouples]

Provorov
McAvoy
Makar
Heiskanen
Hughes
Theodore
Pulock
Sergachev

[Axeman33]

Provorov
Heiskanen
Theodore
Makar
Hughes
McAvoy
Pulock
Sergachev

[Dr.Brad]

Makar
Theodore
Heiskanen
Provorov
Hughes
Sergachev
McAvoy
Pulock

Some, obviously subjective. Quinn Hughes lower than others ranked him based upon poor multicat statistics, and watching him struggle against Vegas. I actually think Pulock deserves better, but he won’t be #1 on his own team in two years... McAvoy seems to need Chara to play behind him, too many “misses.” I’ll draft Makar or Theodore earlier than some other GM’s, and I’ll be happy with that choice for years.

[Axeman33]

Makar
Theodore
Heiskanen
Provorov
Hughes
Sergachev
McAvoy
Pulock

Some, obviously subjective. Quinn Hughes lower than others ranked him based upon poor multicat statistics, and watching him struggle against Vegas. I actually think Pulock deserves better, but he won’t be #1 on his own team in two years... McAvoy seems to need Chara to play behind him, too many “misses.” I’ll draft Makar or Theodore earlier than some other GM’s, and I’ll be happy with that choice for years.

I took it as real life rankings over fantasy.

[Dr.Brad]

Ehh - - perception = reality, no??

[Axeman33]

Ehh - - perception = reality, no??

I definitely view some players differently for real life vs fantasy value when it comes to who I'd build my team around.

[The Comish]

This question was an excellent one by sweetcelly. I put them in the order I think I would want them in real life, trying to balance offensive ability with defensive skills. Two of you put Provorov as the number one guy. I may need to watch more Philly games as I had him sixth. I need to watch more games of these guys to help me with a more informed ranking. Much of mine was based on limited game observations and fantasy numbers while trying to keep real life game play in mind.

[sweetcelly]

This question was an excellent one by sweetcelly. I put them in the order I think I would want them in real life, trying to balance offensive ability with defensive skills. Two of you put Provorov as the number one guy. I may need to watch more Philly games as I had him sixth. I need to watch more games of these guys to help me with a more informed ranking. Much of mine was based on limited game observations and fantasy numbers while trying to keep real life game play in mind.

Ya I think Pro-V is the real deal, future Norris candidate for sure, I would have him up near the top as well. Plays in all situations, and handles the big minutes.

If I was starting a franchise from scratch I would want to build around him.

Heiskanen
Provorov
Theodore
Makar
Hughes


McAvoy
Sergachev
Pulock

[roenick27]

Real life I'd rank them as:
Miro
Prob
Makar
Hughes
Serg
McAvoy
Pulock
Theodore

[Eskimo Brother]

Real life I'd rank them as:
Miro
Prob
Makar
Hughes
Serg
McAvoy
Pulock
Theodore

You're sleeping on Theodore

[roenick27]

You're sleeping on Theodore

Maybe. I'm just not sold on his all around game as much as some of the others.

[zambronies]

Maybe. I'm just not sold on his all around game as much as some of the others.

I would read the article that the Athletic wrote about him on March 9th. It discusses just how impressive Theodore’s offense AND defense has become. Here is a taste, ‘Theodore leads every defenseman in the NHL in Corsi percentage (58.54), expected goal share (58.75) and scoring chance share (59.69).’

It goes on to discuss how his all around game is even more impressive.