Selke Watch: The NHL's top defensive forwards at midseason

by James Mirtle on Jan 3, 2009 8:00 AM CST Comment 6 comments

Here's a quick look at which forwards are rating well in terms of quality of competition and goals against at even strength and the penalty kill. (It's the same idea as the Rod Langway Award for defencemen.)

The Wild's checkers, on a team ranked third in goals against and first on the penalty kill, score high here, but so do some more well-known top defensive players on a team like Detroit that has allowed a lot of goals against this season:

	NAME	TEAM	GP	QCMP	EVGA/60	SHGA/60
1	ANTTI MIETTINEN	MIN	36	0.10	2.02	3.93
2	MIKKO KOIVU	MIN	36	0.13	2.38	3.97
3	STEPHANE VEILLEUX	MIN	36	0.04	2.24	2.90
4	DANIEL ALFREDSSON	OTT	34	0.12	2.73	2.59
5	PATRICK MARLEAU	S.J	37	0.04	2.36	2.13
6	HENRIK ZETTERBERG	DET	35	0.09	2.05	6.10
7	JOEL WARD	NSH	35	-0.01	1.98	1.89
8	BLAIR BETTS	NYR	36	0.01	2.08	3.57
9	JOE PAVELSKI	S.J	35	0.03	2.11	4.65
10	JARRET STOLL	L.A	37	-0.06	1.44	1.5
11	ROBERT LANG	MTL	32	0.05	1.67	6.46
12	ALEXANDER SEMIN	WSH	21	-0.03	1.61	2.96
13	JERRED SMITHSON	NSH	37	0.00	2.16	2.71
14	PAVEL DATSYUK	DET	37	0.04	2.37	4.12
15	ADAM HALL	T.B	32	-0.02	1.33	4.78
16	MICHAL HANDZUS	L.A	37	0.05	2.45	4.15
17	DAVE BOLLAND	CHI	35	0.07	2.47	4.94
18	PATRICE BERGERON	BOS	31	0.04	1.62	6.67
19	DANIEL WINNIK	PHX	23	0.12	1.19	10.33
20	RYAN BAYDA	CAR	36	-0.02	1.55	4.78
21	PASCAL DUPUIS	PIT	30	0.07	2.29	6.01
22	JEFF CARTER	PHI	35	0.13	2.89	4.99
23	RYAN KESLER	VAN	38	0.06	2.16	6.42
24	MIKE GRIER	S.J	35	-0.02	1.57	5.36
25	MIKE KNUBLE	PHI	35	0.02	2.55	3.76
26	SCOTT GOMEZ	NYR	31	0.12	2.69	6.06
27	MANNY MALHOTRA	CBJ	32	-0.06	1.11	5.3
28	PAUL GAUSTAD	BUF	23	0.03	2.89	2.41
29	MARTIN HANZAL	PHX	37	0.09	2.06	8.37
30	MIKE RICHARDS	PHI	35	0.01	2.17	5.54

Last year's Selke nominees were all decent, which isn't always the case. Datsyuk, the eventual winner, is having another strong season (ranked 14th) and playing a bit more while shorthanded. His teammate, Zetterberg, is also in the running based on his numbers.

The third nominee, John Madden from the Devils, has struggled defensively this season and fallen off the map.

There are some interesting names on the list. Alfredsson, Marleau, Semin, Carter, Knuble and Gomez all have reputations as offence-first players but are playing at least two minutes a game shorthanded and doing well in those minutes.

It's going to be pretty interesting to see who gets Selke consideration this year. Semin is fourth in the league in plus-minus but has missed 17 games and doesn't have the reputation of a defensive player, while Datsyuk isn't far behind and could easily win again.

Koivu or Marleau would be my choice at this point. Koivu had very strong numbers last season but missed time due to injury, and he's a huge part of the defensive machine in Minnesota. Marleau, meanwhile, has been reborn under new management in San Jose.

My guess is Richards gets a lot of support as he's got a solid plus-minus and good shorthanded point totals. As long as it's someone who plays a defensive role well, I can live with that.

At least Rod Brind'Amour won't win again.

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I haven’t looked at these numbers in quite a while, but Zetterberg really got his EVGA/60 down after a weak start to the season. Of course, his offensive numbers have really dropped off since the start, too, so go figure.

by RyanV on Jan 3, 2009 9:33 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Zetterberg is being used in a bit more defensive role this year, though. And his linemates haven’t been as stable as Datsyuk’s either.

"A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with." -- Tennessee Williams

by Baroque on Jan 3, 2009 1:23 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Some interesting guys there, gotta hope that those who have improved get recognized. I agree with your estimations about actual Selke winner candidates.

That Brind’Amour stat is stunning. The guy has a six goal lead in the league in the minus category despite playing for a team that’s currently in a playoff spot and a SEVENTEEN goal lead over Whitney (second worst Hurricane). That’s ridiculous, seems that every line that he plays on gets outscored given that no-one on his own team is even close.

Also, not taking into account the teams they play for and the general shabbiness of the stat, the +/- situation puts an interesting swing on a recent Bruins-Blues trade. Among all skaters, Dennis Wideman leads the league with +26; Brad Boyes only has Brind’Amour behind him with -20. Along with how well Wideman has played overall, this makes all the talk about a lopsided trade sound funny now (yeah, I know I might be beating a dead horse for some).

by Malurous on Jan 3, 2009 2:14 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

It really is a shame that for the last 15 years or so the Selke has gone to a forward who contributes offensively and plays a little defense, rather than to the actual best defensive forward… but while it likely will go to Zetterberg, Richards or maybe even Jeff Carter, Blair Betts gets my vote!

I have a blog too! www.scottyhockey.com
Let's Go Rangers!

by Scotty Hockey on Jan 6, 2009 7:30 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Where are takeaways?

I can’t find takeaways on either nhl.com or espn.com, so I don’t know if Datsyuk is blowing everyone else away like he did last year. If you’re playing the Red Wings 5 on 5 with Datsyuk on the ice it’s more like you’re 4.5 on 5 because he keeps taking the puck away.

That should count for something.

by The Centerfielder on Jan 6, 2009 9:01 AM CST reply actions 0 recs