With limited assets to work with, Vegas general manager George McPhee identified defensemen as his ultimate bargaining chip. Mere weeks after Pittsburgh beat the Predators in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, the Golden Knights set the market for defensemen in the expansion draft. But maybe the game is a little quicker and more about skating now." They're awesome, and they played the best guys on the other team," Fleury said. Don't get me wrong: I love Scuds, I love Hal. Pittsburgh relied instead on their keen defensive minds, toughness and stickwork.Ĭhampionship bonafides notwithstanding, the Scuderi-Gill combo represents where the game used to be. Although the shutdown duo was typically matched against opposing teams' best offensive players, Scuderi and Gill weren't exactly known for their balletic skating stride. He backstopped the Penguins to a championship in 2009 alongside the defensive pair of Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill. The transition is so much easier, and you have more puck possession also, which leads to more goals."įleury has witnessed firsthand the evolution of NHL defensemen. "When you have guys like that, it can get it out of your zone quickly. A guy who has two guys coming at him and he still gets the puck out and on the tape - not just distributing on the boards," said veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who won three Stanley Cup with the Penguins before the Golden Knights made him their first expansion draft pick. "To have somebody that can help you get out of the zone, that's a big plus. 19 to replace Mike Fisher as the team's captain. In fact, the Preds went 5-0 in the postseason when they got goals from Josi, who was named on Sept. When those four generated offense, the Predators won. When it came to defensemen driving the attack, the Predators' fleet-footed quartet of Subban, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm proved crucial in Nashville's run to the Stanley Cup Final, in which it lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Any defenseman capable of making a swift tape-to-tape pass out of his own zone might have a place in the NHL. Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and Drew Doughty have established themselves as franchise players by becoming the engines that drive their respective teams' offense from the back end. Since so many of the league's most dynamic players now occupy spots on the blue line, every team is looking for an elite defenseman. The game has gotten faster, and one thing has become abundantly clear: defensemen must be able to skate. "Right now defensemen are certainly hard to find."Īfter losing the 2004-05 season to a work stoppage, the league took the opportunity to institute several rule changes - most notably allowing two-line passes and cracking down on obstruction - designed to open up the game and revive offenses. Then I get to New Jersey, and what do we need? We need defensemen," Hall said. "In Edmonton, for so long we needed defensemen. Perhaps no player understands that better than the left winger, who was the first-overall pick in 2010. If not, then you have to give up good players to get them." "I don't know if it's just the way that the league is going or the style of play that teams are having success with, but defensemen are at a premium," Hall said. If you want to acquire even a serviceable D-man, it'll cost you.
Subban and Shea Weber.Ī year later, between Subban and the Nashville Predators' run to the Stanley Cup Final and the Vegas Golden Knights' stockpiling blueliners in the expansion draft, defensemen have never been more valuable. Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli was mostly savaged for the trade, which was immediately overshadowed by the blockbuster deal the same day that swapped franchise defensemen P.K. It really all started June 29, 2016, when the Edmonton Oilers dealt All-Star Taylor Hall to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Adam Larsson, who had barely established himself since being drafted fourth overall in 2011. NHL, Nashville Predators, Vegas Golden Knights How defensemen became the NHL's most valuable asset
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