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Todd Cordell
1. Thomas Chabot
Chabot is an elite skating defenseman who drives play and produces a ton of offense while shouldering a massive workload. John Carlson, Victor Hedman, Erik Karlsson, Morgan Rielly, and Mark Giordano were the only defenders worth more Goals Above Replacement last season, per Evolving-Hockey.com.
2. Rasmus Dahlin
I don't think he's getting enough credit for the rookie campaign he put together. Dahlin mustered up 44 points(!) while posting strong relative numbers and drawing more penalties than he took, which is not overly common for defenders. I can't wait to see what he does with more talent around him in Year 2.
3. Zach Werenski
The 22-year-old already has three very good seasons under his belt. He posted a positive Rel CF% in each of them, and has averaged 44 points per 82 games played for his career.
4. Charlie McAvoy
Injuries haven't allowed him to put up gaudy point totals but he is a solid offensive contributor and as steady as they come without the puck. There's a reason he averages better than 22 minutes per night on a Stanley Cup contender.
5. Miro Heiskanen
I love watching Heiskanen play. Though he's so fluid and confident making plays with the puck, he is also very smart and rarely gets himself in a bind. The Stars are in excellent shape with John Klingberg and Heiskanen anchoring their defense moving forward.
Peter Tessier
Heiskanen- he's 20 okay and he had 12 goals and 33 points playing all 82 games for Dallas. Forget the plus minus because that stat is dumb but if this kid fills out his game he's going to be their next Zubov.
Werenski- remember when everyone was talking about him two years ago? He didn't go away he just went about his business while all the other distractions hit Columbus. 44pts and a career 53.1% CF is damn good for his age.
Chabot- it's not his fault he plays on a train wreck tire fire gong show of a team. He didn't choose them. He does put up numbers in make his team better even if some of the underlying issues of the team sink him.
Provorov- down year for him or part of the whole malaise that hit the Flyers? If he was on the market there's not a GM around who wouldn't make an effort to acquire him. In his down year he still had 25% of all his career points
Tie McAvoy/Dahlin- One only played 54 games and was electric the other played 82 and had to manage through whatever Buffalo is. If you swapped the two players what happens with their numbers? I like them both and circumstance surely affects each.
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Top-5 goaltenders in the Eastern Conference?
Top-5 defenders in the Western Conference?
Top-5 defenders in the Eastern Conference?
Top-5 wingers in the Western Conference?
Top-5 wingers in the Eastern Conference?
Top-5 centers in the Western Conference?
Top-5 centers in the Eastern Conference?
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