The most underrated defensemen in the NHL

[Buck Naked]

Gotta cast my homer vote for Dahlin. So many people seem to think of him as a struggling offensive defenseman? But he’s been a dominant 3-zone 2-way player for 2 straight seasons now, and he’s quite physical. And he’s still only 23. If he played on either a better team or in a bigger market, he’d be a superstar.

I know you Buffalo people will always think about Dahlin as a child who's coming into his own, but he is actually getting older and is currently 24 years of age.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I know you Buffalo people will always think about Dahlin as a child who's coming into his own, but he is actually getting older and is currently 24 years of age.

he was 23 the last time he played NHL hockey. No need to be super pedantic about it.

E: my bad, he played 1 game at the age of 24. I guess he’s washed.

 

[dgibb10]

Who would you have put ahead of Hughes in Calder voting? He was tied for 2nd in scoring for all rookies

Nemec, although maybe I'm not weighing games played as much as I should.

 

[Buck Naked]

he was 23 the last time he played NHL hockey. No need to be super pedantic about it.

E: my bad, he played 1 game at the age of 24. I guess he’s washed.

Still young though, right?

 

[KevinRedkey]

I guess i find Brandon Carlo to be quite good, and he seems to go under the radar for the most part.

The last Dman I felt was criminally underrated was Alec Martinez back when he was on LA. He got more attention once he landed in Vegas though.

 

[Oneiro]

Interesting answer. He's not like top 20 in the league or anything but a very solid d-man who is becoming more versatile with maturity and opportunity.

Yeah. When I think of underrated, I don't necessarily compare a player to the very elite or top end of the skillset. More about renown and reputation relative to impact.

Like in '22-23, Siegenthaler might have been a choice. Years ago, Lundell or Tanev, etc.

 

[EK47]

Ekholm simply for the fact he’s the only Oilers Dman that knows how to…defend.

I would argue that he was until he got traded to a bigger and more fanatical market and became their best defenseman on day one(well maybe bouchard now but not on day one).

 

[YippieKaey]

Yeah. When I think of underrated, I don't necessarily compare a player to the very elite or top end of the skillset. More about renown and reputation relative to impact.

Like in '22-23, Siegenthaler might have been a choice. Years ago, Lundell or Tanev, etc.

Yeah Tanev is a very good choice too. I think many defense first D-men get underrated in general due to stat watching.

 

[dgibb10]

Probably Fehervary.

Fehevary does not get enough credit for the incredibly TOUGH minutes he plays and the rock solid results he's had in them.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Artem Zub is underrated even by Ottawa fans let alone hockey fans overall...

 

[Aurinko]

Zadorov is NOT the answer. I would not count Q.Hughes underrated.

Ekholm isn't that much talked, and surely has the season stats from 2023-24 to back it up:

Paired with Bouchard, that looks like a well balanced combination.

 

[Voight]

Probably Josh Morrissey. 145 points is 159 games. All the other defensemen in his tier are highly touted.

No doubt he'd be talked about more if he played in a bigger market/for a popular team.

 

[Voight]

Rookie: Not voted
1st: Norris
2nd: 5th
3rd: 2nd

The last 3-4 years is his whole career...also Hedman has the same number of top 5 finishes since Fox started playing as Fox does, 3. Josi and McAvoy both have 2.

The average placement over that time is 3 for Hedman, 2.6 for Fox, and 2 for Makar if we don't include years they weren't top 5.

If you do include those years, than it becomes Makar at 3.75, Hedman at 6, Fox at 8.25 and the other 2 at 9.25.

So the "gap" between those players is .4. Or at worst 2.25 and 1.

I can see why people think players with more of a history and more team success could prefer them. I mean, Hedman has literally won two cups in this time period, and a Conn Smythe, along with making it to the finals a 3rd time. Only Makar really comes close to that kind of resume since he also won a Smythe and a cup.

Fun fact! Bobby Orr is the only defenseman to win the Smythe twice, and one of only 6 players total to win it more than once, with Patrick Roy having 3 wins, the most, and Gretzky, Parent, Crosby, and Lemieux being the others with 2.

Also, EK received 123 votes for 1st the year he won, so I'm not sure how you can say people didn't think he was the best defenseman that year. If a Norris placement, your main argument, is such a good indicator of who the top d-men in the league are, than shouldn't you also be putting such weight into those same people saying EK was by far the best d-man that year?

I don't really have a bone in this fight, but I think it's hard to argue that Fox isn't universally acknowledged as a very good player, top 5 D-man currently, and potentially a top 2 or top 3 d-man as well, but that he's underrated. I think it's also pretty hard to argue that he's been a *far* better d-man than Hedman

Makar would've won the Norris in 2021 anyways had he been healthy. As it is, Fox ended up with only 9 more first place votes.

 

[super6646]

Liking all the Skjei responses. Feels vindicating after the crap I received from some rangers fans when I panned the trade ngl.

 

[syz]

Zadorov is NOT the answer. I would not count Q.Hughes underrated.

Ekholm isn't that much talked, and surely has the season stats from 2023-24 to back it up:


View attachment 872732

Paired with Bouchard, that looks like a well balanced combination.

Ekholm is like +80 or something ridiculous since being traded to Edmonton.

 

[Buck Naked]

Ekholm isn't that much talked, and surely has the season stats from 2023-24 to back it up:

Paired with Bouchard, that looks like a well balanced combination.

That pairing is underrated. One of the most dominant in the league, both in the regular season and now in the playoffs. Like you said, well balanced.

 

[ValeriKamensky]

Ryan Suter is not underrated, but I never buy fact he has 0 Norris.

Sean Walker, Matt Roy, Jake Walman.

 

[DapperCam]

Gotta cast my homer vote for Dahlin. So many people seem to think of him as a struggling offensive defenseman? But he’s been a dominant 3-zone 2-way player for 2 straight seasons now, and he’s quite physical. And he’s still only 23. If he played on either a better team or in a bigger market, he’d be a superstar.

This is my homer take as well. If he was on a competent team, I think his stats would be absurd. He's by far the most important Sabres player, and does his best to carry them on his back.

 

[bobbythebrain]

The fact Bouchard hasn't gotten any mentions in here comical. Also shows how MANY pply don't understand what defense means.

Fact...going into the corner vs a forecheck is playing defense, and Bouchard is one of the absolute best players in the league at relieving pressure by making controlled passes to his partner or subtle passes to the forwards for clean breakouts. He rarely relies on just rimming a hard pass around the boards forcing his teammates to make the play. He buys time and 90% of the time it ends up in a clean exit

His stats this year back that up, and his offensive #'s rival anyone in the league

As far as these playoffs, well, he's in his own class ATM

 

[ORRFForever]

The fact Bouchard hasn't gotten any mentions in here comical. Also shows how MANY pply don't understand what defense means.

Fact...going into the corner vs a forecheck is playing defense, and Bouchard is one of the absolute best players in the league at relieving pressure by making controlled passes to his partner or subtle passes to the forwards for clean breakouts. He rarely relies on just rimming a hard pass around the boards forcing his teammates to make the play. He buys time and 90% of the time it ends up in a clean exit

His stats this year back that up, and his offensive #'s rival anyone in the league

As far as these playoffs, well, he's in his own class ATM

Edmonton's D, as a whole, has a bad rep and Bouchard gets painted by that brush. Plus, he's young. Still, that shot...

 

[Buck Naked]

Edmonton's D, as a whole, has a bad rep and Bouchard gets painted by that brush. Plus, he's young. Still, that shot...

The difference in quality between the Ekholm - Bouchard pairing and the Nurse - Ceci one could be the greatest in the history of #1 and #2 pairings.

 

[Vivaldi]

At this point its John Carlson. He is actually underrated in the sense that he has an overall negative reputation and is seen as a one dimensional rich man's Tyson Barrie, but this year anchored a Caps team whose next best defensemen could be very, very generously described as #4 (take your pick of any of Sandin, Jensen or Fehervary this season) to the playoffs, playing top ES, PP and PK minutes in his mid 30s coming off a potentially career ending injury, playing 25 minutes a game and putting up 52 points while being -7 playing the hardest minutes on a team with a -37 goal differential. Not in the sense that he won by far the least consequential Norris of the last however many years the Norris was a thing and his teams fans are butthurt that he is "only" seen as a consensus top 5 defenseman instead of top 2 lol.

I don't think Bouchard is that underrated anymore, maybe by Edmonton haters. But given that he has Ekholm and one of McDrai virtually every moment he steps on the ice certainly puts him in as favorable a position to perform as any primarily offensive D has in the league, even if his goalies tend to be a tire fire. Still full marks for him for taking advantage of it, not every player does.

 

[Machinehead]

I'm a Rangers fan and I think Fox has a case for #2 but also realize #2 and top 5 are close enough that it doesn't warrant 20 posts in this thread that talks about underrated defensemen.

I think Fox is more misunderstood than underrated.

I still think a lot of people don't really understand what his game actually is. That being said, those people are still aware of how good he is.

I think he's fairly rated at this point.

He was overlooked as Norris finalist this year imo, but that's more having to get Makar in there every year for no reason than Fox being underrated.

 

[Machinehead]

Ryan Suter is not underrated, but I never buy fact he has 0 Norris.

What year was he the best defenseman in the league?

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I think Fox is more misunderstood than underrated.

I still think a lot of people don't really understand what his game actually is. That being said, those people are still aware of how good he is.

I think he's fairly rated at this point.

He was overlooked as Norris finalist this year imo, but that's more having to get Makar in there every year for no reason than Fox being underrated.

I mean we did have haters in this thread say you can't win a cup with him as a #1. So I may need to ammend my post.