The NHL's top defensive forwards
by James Mirtle on Nov 26, 2009 1:49 PM CST
20 comments
We're about far enough into the season that we can start to look at some individual stats and have enough of a sample size to draw some conclusions. This list is the same one I've been churning out for a couple years now, and ranks players defensively based on (a) quality of competition at even strength, (b) goals against per minute played at even strength and (c) goals against per minute played on the penalty kill.
Players also have to have played at least 15 games and fill a significant role on their team's shorthanded unit. Credit, as always, to Behind The Net for the data.
Here are the top 25 at the quarter-way mark:
| NAME | TEAM | GP | QCMP | EVGA/60 | SHGA/60 | |
| 1 | BRANDON CROMBEEN | STL | 21 | 0.12 | 1.44 | 1.33 |
| 2 | KRIS VERSTEEG | CHI | 22 | 0.13 | 1.49 | 5.25 |
| 3 | JAY MCCLEMENT | STL | 21 | 0.13 | 1.75 | 6.27 |
| 4 | VERNON FIDDLER | PHX | 25 | 0.03 | 1.86 | 3.61 |
| 5 | JOHN MADDEN | CHI | 23 | 0.12 | 2.17 | 5.61 |
| 6 | DAVID LEGWAND | NSH | 23 | 0.09 | 2.28 | 4.43 |
| 7 | TRAVIS ZAJAC | N.J | 22 | 0.16 | 0.73 | 9.20 |
| 8 | MILAN MICHALEK | OTT | 22 | 0.22 | 2.57 | 5.27 |
| 9 | JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER | N.J | 22 | 0.09 | 1.69 | 7.47 |
| 10 | DANIEL WINNIK | PHX | 25 | -0.05 | 1.59 | 1.54 |
| 11 | SAKU KOIVU | ANA | 17 | 0.12 | 1.62 | 8.64 |
| 12 | RYAN MALONE | T.B | 21 | 0.18 | 2.20 | 7.49 |
| 13 | MIKE FISHER | OTT | 21 | 0.08 | 2.32 | 5.41 |
| 14 | JOCHEN HECHT | BUF | 20 | -0.04 | 1.64 | 4.10 |
| 15 | MIKE GRIER | BUF | 15 | -0.05 | 1.60 | 3.53 |
| 16 | COLIN FRASER | CHI | 23 | 0.04 | 2.33 | 4.39 |
| 17 | JAMES WRIGHT | T.B | 21 | 0.07 | 1.29 | 8.13 |
| 18 | STEVE BEGIN | BOS | 24 | 0.03 | 1.96 | 5.34 |
| 19 | DANIEL ALFREDSSON | OTT | 22 | 0.25 | 3.02 | 5.25 |
| 20 | TOMAS PLEKANEC | MTL | 24 | -0.01 | 1.94 | 5.06 |
| 21 | DAVID BACKES | STL | 21 | 0.01 | 2.03 | 5.19 |
| 22 | BRANDON DUBINSKY | NYR | 18 | 0.06 | 2.20 | 5.72 |
| 23 | JEFF HALPERN | T.B | 21 | 0.06 | 2.34 | 5.54 |
| 24 | SCOTT NICHOL | S.J | 26 | -0.07 | 1.89 | 2.35 |
| 25 | JOEL WARD | NSH | 21 | 0.14 | 2.10 | 8.81 |
Without a lot of high profile names in there so far (i.e. Datsyuk, Zetterberg) it'll be interesting to see what the Selke candidates look like this season. I don't think you could go wrong giving it to Alfredsson, who always does a nice job on the Sens' PK.
Players who scored on the low end among those that qualified include Wayne Primeau, Craig Adams, Lee Stempniak, Greg Campbell and Rod Brind'Amour.
I'll look at the top defensive defencemen in the near future.
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Great stuff, James
I’m going to do a post on the Sens players on this list tomorrow. It’s pretty amazing that the 3 Senators players on the list are also the top 3 scorers for the team as well, which shows their versatility and well-roundedness (considering this doesn’t take offensive skill into the equation).
Silver Seven: the Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators blogs.
by DarrenM on Nov 26, 2009 2:19 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
sorry to point this out, but that picture looks so wrong……
i mean no harm. i come in peace. unlike shane o'brien or kevin bieksa........
watch out for the Rypper too, he can whip anyone.......
GO CANUCKS GO!
by missy on Nov 26, 2009 4:00 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
You are correct!
It should have been John Madden on top of either of the Sedins. :)
by fourstringninja on Nov 26, 2009 6:23 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
funny.
i mean no harm. i come in peace. unlike shane o'brien or kevin bieksa........
watch out for the Rypper too, he can whip anyone.......
GO CANUCKS GO!
by missy on Nov 26, 2009 7:29 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
yes, I remember seeing it before from a Blackhawks blogger who captioned it “looks like someone likes John Madden even more than we do”
a little chippy: hockey, mostly
"if you don't watch the violence, you'll never get desensitized to it!"
by KofC on Nov 26, 2009 6:33 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Completely missing this year
Anyone from the Wild.
I've been looking at the sky
by Back In Black on Nov 26, 2009 6:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
A related question:
Where the hell is the entire Northwest division?
by HugoAgogo on Nov 26, 2009 8:01 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
wow, that’s weird…..
i mean no harm. i come in peace. unlike shane o'brien or kevin bieksa........
watch out for the Rypper too, he can whip anyone.......
GO CANUCKS GO!
by missy on Nov 28, 2009 12:06 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
The quality of competition numbers for Alfie and Michalek really stand out
by thinkwild on Nov 26, 2009 11:27 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
three Ottawa players. No wonder they always seem cover other teams like a blanket defensively.
by powerplay on Nov 27, 2009 10:00 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
three blues, three blackhawks too.
Silver Seven: the Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators blogs.
by DarrenM on Nov 27, 2009 12:40 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Teams with strong penalty kills, especially early on, generally do pretty well. And all of these forwards play big minutes on those units.
Blogging on hockey at fromtherink.com
by James Mirtle on Nov 27, 2009 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
Plekanec’s QCOMP numbers have to be trending upwards in a hurry.
Hard to believe a kid like James Wright is already on this list. Impressive!
Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.
by saskhab on Nov 27, 2009 10:26 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I’m not too surprised. James “Killer” Wright has been a staple on the Lightning’s PK. I’ve also seen him hit Anton Volchenkov twice, battle with Scott Neidermayer, and nearly get into a fight with Sheldon Brookbank – all in spite of his lanky frame.
ryanclassic.net
by Ryan Classic on Nov 27, 2009 2:42 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs
A token (sorry) mention for Evander Kane:
-0.02 2.39 1.82(though in only 1.5 min/game)
The future of Team BC!
by Passive Voice on Nov 27, 2009 8:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
Just gonna say…this thread is about the best but just in case you were wondering, Aaron Ward is the WORST defensive player.
25 GP
0 G
4 A
4 Pts
-14
22 PIM
He’s been on the ice for seven of the 10 third period goals the Canes have given up in the last two games. And his defensive break down is so bad he usually causes a goal to be scored every time he is on the ice.
Just thought I’d throw that in there.
by Caniacinthestand on Nov 29, 2009 8:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
maybe connect these stats to the teams record,
because the offense always seems to affect the def.
by chrisj on Nov 30, 2009 8:16 AM CST reply actions 0 recs
I knew Zajac was having a great season,
but I couldn’t believe seeing his EVGA/60 was over half a goal lower than anyone else. I also kind of think the SHGA is kind of inflated as he hasn’t spent a ton of time killing penalties as NJ has been shorthanded less than any team this season.
by Mandmeisterx on Dec 1, 2009 6:32 PM CST reply actions 0 recs
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