P.K. Subban claims he's still one of the top defensemen in the league.

The National Hockey League is full of interesting and outgoing personalities but perhaps one of the loudest personalities around is New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban. In spite of the fact that he has repeatedly been traded over the last several years Subban remains one of the most recognizable figures in the National Hockey League and his relationship with American media darling Lindsey Vonn has only served to raised his profile on the national level. 

Subban has also never been a stranger to controversy and this week he once again made comments that had many fans and pundits raising their eyebrows and comments that no doubt also caused several players around the league to raise their eyebrows as well. In spite of the fact that he was traded to the New Jersey Devils for a pittance, a sign that most teams around the league no longer view Subban as a valuable asset, at least not with his current contract, Subban told the media this week that he still views himself as one of the league's elite blue liners. 

"In my opinion, I'm still one of the top defensemen in the League," Subban said as per Men's Journal. "When I'm in the biggest games, the biggest moments, I feel that I'm one of the players that teams would love to have on their team and that they can rely on, and that's always been my game."

Again the trade return that the Nashville Predators received for Subban would appear to indicate that there are not a ton of teams in the NHL that value Subban at his current cap hit, although clearly Subban doesn't feel the same way. The 31 year old defenseman does have some reasons to be confident in spite of New Jersey's rather poor season with Subban on the blue line, the Devils finished the season out strong.

"That being said, our team was 6-2-2 the last 10 games before this whole pause came. I think there was a lot of promise shown down the stretch with the coaching change. I think players showed maturity and how they responded after the coaching change; obviously our record was better. So I think there's a lot of promise for the organization and the team."

Subban is surrounded by talented young players, including several recent top picks in the NHL draft, and he believes that this season will only serve as a launching platform for the things to come.

"Before you think about what we need, think about what we're getting now," Subban said. "We're getting another year of experience. Whether we play hockey this season or not, going into next season it will be another year for Jack Hughes. It will be another year for younger players Nico Hischier, Pavel Zacha, Jesper Bratt. All these guys are going to have another year of experience under their belt. That is the biggest thing that our team lacked this year, just experience. We have the youngest team in the League, or one of the youngest teams, and it showed.

Do you agree with Subban? Or is he out to lunch on this one?