The National Hockey League's NHL Network has once again compiled a list of the league's very best players, I must admit I love these lists and the debate and discussions they create among hockey fans and this time around the discussion will be surrounding the league's top 20 defensemen.
Late on Sunday evening the NHL Network published their list of the league's top 20 blue liners and although they had released a similar list prior to the start of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there has been some movement on the list since then. As you would expect the NHL Network immediately came under fire on social media because fans disagreed with their choices in one way or another, but once again that is the very best part of these lists.
First let's take a look at the NHL Network's Top 20:
1. Victor Hedman - Tampa Bay Lightning.
2. Roman Josi - Nashville Predators.
3. John Carlson - Washington Capitals.
4. Alex Pietrangelo - Las Vegas Golden Knights.
5. Seth Jones - Columbus Blue Jackets.
6. Cale Makar - Colorado Avalanche.
7. Dougie Hamilton - Carolina Hurricanes.
8. Kris Letang - Pittsburgh Penguins.
9. Charlie McAvoy - Boston Bruins.
10. Miro Heiskanen - Dallas Stars.
11. Quinn Hughes - Vancouver Canucks.
12. Zach Werenski - Columbus Blue Jackets.
13. Brent Burns - San Jose Sharks.
14. Shea Theodore - Las Vegas Golden Knights.
15. Drew Doughty - Los Angeles Kings.
16. Shea Weber - Montreal Canadiens.
17. Jaccob Slavin - Carolina Hurricanes.
18. Erik Karlsson - San Jose Sharks.
19. Ryan Ellis - Nashville Predators.
20. Morgan Rielly - Toronto Maple Leafs.
The first thing I would say is that there's no doubt that the NHL Network is considering the body of work of some of the players on this list. There are clearly players who have been awarded spots on this list based on the reputations that they have built for themselves in this league rather than their more recent performances. As I stated earlier there was a ton of disagreement from fans of the National Hockey League following the unveiling of this list, and here are just a few choice examples of the ones we can actually show you.
This was a common complaint:
Many were critical of McAvoy's ranking on the list:
Another common one:
No doubt you have your own disagreements with the list, so let us know your thoughts in the comments!
