As I was about to respond to a comment to my last article by Other Rick about the state of our defense, I decided to delve into the blue-line makeup of recent Stanley Cup winners as a way of demonstrating what an effective, balanced defense should look like. After all, if anyone should know a thing or two about constructing a defense, it’s teams that have hoisted Lord Stanley’s chalice.
As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Or in this case, a series of tables. I’ve listed the top six defensemen for each of the past four Cup champions, along with their height and weight and a brief description of each player’s basic attributes.
To absolutely no surprise (or at least not mine), none of these defensive corps bear even a passing resemblance to our current mix of rearguards.
Without further ado, here goes:
2023-24 PANTHERS
Player
Ht./Wt.
Attributes
Forsling
6’0″ 186
Puck-mover, all-arounder
Montour
6’0″ 194
Puck-mover, all-arounder, physical
Ekblad
6’4″ 215
Puck-mover, all-arounder, physical
Ekman-Larsson
6’2″ 200
Puck-mover, all-arounder
Mikkola
6’4″ 209
Stay-at-home, physical
Kulikov
6’1″ 201
Stay-at-home, physical
2022-23 GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Player
Ht./Wt.
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