Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal: Matheson lists who he thinks is a true No. 1 defenceman and who is a top pairing defenseman but not a true No. 1.
What is a true No. 1 Defenseman?
It’s somebody who kills half the game for his coach, playing sound, almost error-free minutes, at least 25 minutes a night, against the other team’s best players; somebody who can be out there in all situations. It helps to put up nice point-totals, too, like Eric Karlsson, but it’s not a requisite. Like Ryan Suter. You don’t have to be tough, but you need to have the wherewithal to take the puck off people without taking a penalty.
True No. 1
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles.
Duncan Keith, Chicago.
Shea Weber, Nashville.
P.K. Subban, Montreal.
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa.
Ryan Suter, Minnesota.
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona.
Kris Letang, Pittsburgh.
Mark Giordano, Calgary.
Ryan McDonagh, Rangers
Alex Pietrangelo, Blues.
Top Pairing
Zdeno Chara, Boston.
John Carlson, Washington.
Brent Seabrook, Chicago.
Roman Josi, Nashville.
Seth Jones, Nashville.
Brent Burns, San Jose.
Jay Bouwmeester, St. Louis.
Hampus Lindholm, Anaheim.
Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg.
Andrei Markov, Montreal.
Erik Johnson, Colorado.
Justin Faulk, Carolina.
Nik Kronwall, Detroit.
A more interesting group is the emerging, young possible No. 1s:
Aaron Ekblad, Florida.
Seth Jones, Nashville.
Morgan Rielly, Toronto.
T.J. Brodie, Calgary.
Roster Notes ….
- Mark Lazerus: The NHL will be conducting their own Patrick Kane investigation, but it’s unlikely that there will be any discipline at this point.
- Jeremy Rutherford: The Blues activate Kevin Shattenkirk from the IR.
- Chris Hine: Marian Hossa didn’t travel with the team to the New Jersey.
- Renaud Lavoie: The Blues sign Martin Havlat to a one-year deal, $600,000.
- Tom Gulitti: Devils Jiri Tlusty said that he’s playing tonight. He had a CT scan yesterday, but they found nothing new.
- Mike Heika: Stars Ales Hemsky (hip) skated today but appears to a scratch.
- Isabelle Khurshudyan: The Capitals send Stanislav Galiev to the AHL on a conditioning assignment.
- Igor Eronko: Former Avalanche defenseman Ryan Wilson signed in the KHL with Ak Bars.
- Renaud Lavoie: The Maple Leafs put Rich Clune on waivers.
Lines and Defensive pairings …
- Michael Smith: Hurricanes lines: E. Staal-J. Staal-Lindholm Gerbe-Rask-Versteeg Skinner-Nash-Terry McGinn-McClement-Nestrasil. Defensive pairings: Hainsey-Faulk Liles-Pesce Hanifin-Murphy
- Tom Gulitti: Devils lines: Cammalleri-Henrique-Stempniak; Tlusty-Zajac-Palmieri; Kalinin-Josefson-Tootoo; Farnham-Gionta-O’Neill; Matteau. Defensive pairings: Greene-Larsson; Moore-Severson; Merrill-Schlemko; Gelinas.
- Sylvain St-Laurent: Senators lines: Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan, Prince-Turris-Stone, Michalek-Pageau-Chiasson, Puempel-Smith-Neil/Lazar.
- Lou Korac: Blues lines: Steen-Lehtera-Tarasenko, Fabbri-Backes-Upshall/Havlat, Paajarvi-Gomez-Brouwer, Jaskin-Brodziak-Reaves. Jeremy Rutherford: Defensive pairings: Edmundson-Pietrangelo Bouwmeester-Parayko Gunnarsson-Shattenkirk
- Michael Russo: Wild lines: Zucker-Koivu-Niederreiter; Pominville-Granlund-Coyle; Vanek-Haula-Schroeder; Porter-Carter-
- Mike Heika: Stars line: Benn-Seguin-Spezza Janmark-Eakin-Sharp Roussel-Fiddler-Sceviour Shore-Faksa-Nichushkin. Defensive pairings: Goligoski-Klingberg Oduya-Demers Jokipakka-Benn
- John Michaels: Hall-Draisaitl-Eberle, Pouliot-RNH-Yak, Hendricks-Letestu-Purcell, Lander-Miller-Pak. Defensive pairings: Sekera-Nurse, Klefbom-Davidson, Reinhart-Gryba.
Starting goalies …
- Mike Zeisberger: James Reimer will start in net for the Maple Leafs.
- Helene St. James: Petr Mrazek will start in net for the Red Wings.
- Tom Gulitti: Cory Schneider will start in net for the Devils.
- Rich Chere: Corey Crawford will start in net for the Blackhawks.
- Andrew Gross: Henrik Lundqvist will start in net for the Rangers.
- Mike Heika: Kari Lehtonen will start in net for the Stars.
- Chip Alexander: Eddie Lack will start in net for the Hurricanes tonight. Cam Ward will start against the Senators.
- Dean Brown: Andrew Hammond will start in net for the Senators tomorrow.