Devils re-sign Paul Martin, 3yrs/$12m

[Spongewingredpants 75]

Danil Marlov must be thinking..."whats wrong with me or my agent?

Edited August 19, 2007 by Spongewingredpants

[Systemfel 33]

Actually, Rafalski is probably one of the best Dmen flying under the radar in todays game.

Probably. But he does screw up pretty big in his own zone from time to time.

[eva unit zero 271]

Probably. But he does screw up pretty big in his own zone from time to time.

Rafalski is an good defensive defenseman. Nobody's perfect, but Rafalski is on the high end of guys in the league, and is one of the few defensemen who can claim to be a top-30 offensive defenseman and a top-30 defensive defenseman (Lidstrom, Pronger, Chara, Niedermayer, Zubov, Redden and Phaneuf rounding out the group), while many more guys fall into the group of one or the other.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Rafalski is an good defensive defenseman. Nobody's perfect, but Rafalski is on the high end of guys in the league, and is one of the few defensemen who can claim to be a top-30 offensive defenseman and a top-30 defensive defenseman (Lidstrom, Pronger, Chara, Niedermayer, Zubov, Redden and Phaneuf rounding out the group), while many more guys fall into the group of one or the other.

Great description.

Rafalski might even be a top 20 in both categories.

Oh, and Kaberle rounds out that group as well.

[eva unit zero 271]

Great description.

Rafalski might even be a top 20 in both categories.

Oh, and Kaberle rounds out that group as well.

I knew I forgot somebody.

[Aeothe Kaear 0]

No way that Phaneuf is top 30 defensively in the NHL. He's a great hitter but that's not all there is to playing D.

I would, however, put Andrei Markov in that grouping.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

No way that Phaneuf is top 30 defensively in the NHL. He's a great hitter but that's not all there is to playing D.

I would, however, put Andrei Markov in that grouping.

Dude- I'd give a nut to get Phaneuf on this team.

[Aeothe Kaear 0]

I'd love to have him too, but that still doesn't make him top 30 in the NHL defensively.

[Guest jaytan]

Great description.

Rafalski might even be a top 20 in both categories.

Oh, and Kaberle rounds out that group as well.

Except for (maybe) Bryan McCabe, Tomas Kaberle is hands-down the greatest defenceman in the league right now.

[Opie 308]

Ahhh LIDSTROM is still playing!!

[Guest jaytan]

Haha! Lidstrom? He can't hit!

[Opie 308]

You're right, he doesn't hit, man what was I thinking, damn it, those Norris trophy voters and I sure got that one wrong

[eva unit zero 271]

I'd love to have him too, but that still doesn't make him top 30 in the NHL defensively.

Phaneuf is certainly on the bottom end of that 30, but I would definitely put him in that grouping. Generally, you're not going to see a top level defensive defenseman playing outside of his team's top three defensemen (except in very rare cases), because he is so valuable to have on the ice. Think of a guy like Derian Hatcher with Dallas, Mattias Ohlund in Vancouver, or Adam Foote with Colorado. They get top pairing time because of their defense, not their offense. So we can automatically discount anyone playing below that for this purpose. Which leaves 90 guys to fill out both lists You have to figure that the same applies to top 30 offensive defensemen, again with rare exceptions. Obviously I've included Phaneuf as one of the eight best defensive defensemen in the top 30 offensive defensemen. That means he's already ahead of 22 of the 90 guys who could be on there. Do you really think that he's not better defensively than 60 other top-three defensemen? Basically that means if you traded Phaneuf for a team's best defensive defenseman, would Phaneuf be the new holder of that title? The only situations I can think of where that wouldn't be the case are Detroit (Lidstrom and Rafalski) and Anaheim if Niedermayer stays. There are a few teams where he would beat out anyone currently on the roster (Edmonton, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, Carolina, Washington) so it doesn't seem like a stretch to suggest that Phaneuf is a top 30 guy.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Haha! Lidstrom? He can't hit!

Better than GETTING hit, which is what Kaberle is apparently REALLY good at.

At any rate, I know you are just either trying to stir s*** up or are a moron, because no one in their right mind would call McCabe anything close to the greatest Dman in the league. Hell its a stretch even to say hes a great Dman.

Great description.

Rafalski might even be a top 20 in both categories.

Oh, and Kaberle rounds out that group as well.

Yeah I was gonna say that too. Id give Rafalski top 20 in each.

[Guest jaytan]

You're right, he doesn't hit, man what was I thinking, damn it, those Norris trophy voters and I sure got that one wrong

Well, at least you can admit it.