For the second consecutive year, the NHL Network’s ranking of the league’s top defensemen has Edmonton Oilers’ blueliner Evan Bouchard sitting below where many think he should be ranked.
Coming in at No. 10, it’s good to see Bouchard is considered a Top 10 defenseman, but one might think a season in which he scored 21 goals and 74 assists for 95 points in 82 games would earn him a higher ranking.
For fans and analysts arguing Bouchard got snubbed, the case for a better position is that he came in fourth in Norris Trophy voting, meaning he should have been ranked higher than names like Miro Hieskanen, Lane Hutson, Matthew Schaefer, Jake Sanderson and Moritz Seider.
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The counter-argument, of course, is that all of those defenseman are excellent and that any or all of them deserve to be where they’re slotted.
One fan wrote, “This is just so disrespectful to Evan Bouchard…He lead all defensemen last season with 95 points after all. But you know what? Nirvana never won a Grammy and it’s still considered one of the greatest bands of all time, so… Bravo,”
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Others took the stance that the definition of defenseman needs to be accounted for. If your ranking is based on playing defense, then point producers shouldn’t get as much love as those who stop the puck from going in. Bouchard doesn’t rank as well if that’s the criteria, even if he’s better than some give him credit for.
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Another key aspect of this list is the “right now” component. The excerpt clearly states that this is not a list that takes into account what a defensen will become or once was. If fans are ranking based on how a player used to play in their prime, they’re missing the point of the list. If they’re saying Matthew Schaefer should be where he is or higher because he’s going to a Norris trophy candidate, they’ve, again, lost the plot.
One could argue that there were very few better defensemen than Bouchard last season. The top three are probably locks. It’s hard to dispute Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and Zach Werenski as the best the NHL has to offer. Outside of that, Bouchard should be in the conversation for top five.
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