Every Team’s Best D-Man Tier List

[u/dbudd1]

Slavin disrespected again……

[u/Cool_9280]

So freaking stupid. Every GM would break their necks trying to sign Slavo if he had hit the open market, but yet, he’s just “good”

[u/Nerdious-Maximus → u/Cool_9280]

Came to bag on this one. Thrilled it is the top comment.

[u/thetanplanman → u/Nerdious-Maximus]

....it's arr-canes. Did you really expect it not to be?

[u/bk00pi]

I personally would put Slavin a tier higher, but I'm not losing any sleep over this list.

[u/oooriole09 → u/bk00pi]

At this point it’s expected.

He’s underrated and will stay that way because of the style of defenseman he is. The 4 Nations stuff is probably the height of his national praise.

[u/Interesting_Rule34 → u/oooriole09]

He’s so underrated that he’s snubbed from “most underrated” list by players. At this point Barkov being named most underrated is a farce 🙄

[u/JayMerlyn]

Complete rage bait

[u/jake753]

“I made a tier list based only on what I personally know of each teams best d-man”

[u/Responsible-Log-3500]

Mbonhockey is almost always biased (against) when it comes to ranking Canes.

[u/PrinceLelouch → u/Responsible-Log-3500]

I mean. He's got josi, hedman, and Slavin below Dahlin, morrissey, and werinsky. I like all those guys but they have not even begun to show they're more elite than the other 3 showstoppers on the D line.

[u/mkp0203]

Lmfao

[u/dbudd1]

At least we have a pretty good D-man!!

[u/msb2ncsu]

People love them some Derek Jeter but give me Ozzie Smith at SS all day (and I say that as a Cubs fan).

[u/EstablishmentNo5994]

Life is a lot better once you stop giving a shit what the mainstream media thinks about us.

[u/cactus8]

Dahlin is better than Slavin. Got it.

[u/CardiologistThick928 → u/cactus8]

He’s not a defensive sieve anymore and is an elite offensive defenseman, genuinely if he didn’t play for the shitty Sabres he would be talked up right behind Makar and Hughes

[u/FailureToExecute → u/cactus8]

because it's true, however he's spent his entire career with one of the worst teams in the league, so his numbers aren't as impressive as they should be

[u/Kyle73001 → u/cactus8]

I mean yeah I think 95+% of people would agree with that

[u/Lumpy_Road1112 → u/cactus8]

Slavin is my favorite player, but Dahlin is better than any defenseman not named Hughes or Makar. 

[u/Normal512]

I don't really feel it's that disrespectful to Slavin, simply because his offense is limited to the point that he's just never going to be a "top 5" guy, even if everyone puts him top 10. Maybe if we were a worse team and Slavin got PP time it might boost him, but I think it's fair to say that you need to be more of an offensive contributor to be considered "elite," even if you're the best shutdown defender in the game.

I feel Hedman should probably still be in the elite tier, even if he's getting long in the tooth and maybe his Norris days are behind him, he's got a pretty killer resume and is still a force.

Fox is also a player I find interesting to see where people put him. I often see him seen as the 3rd or 4th best Dman in the game, but after a down season with the team sorta imploding around him, maybe that's changing. Don't get me wrong, I know he's popular to hate on here because of the history - he's still a really good player, 10g and 61p is a hell of a down year. But I do think he's a touch overrated, like I would put Hedman above him and if you gave me the last two seasons of Bouchard, I'll take him over Fox as well.

[u/Lumpy_Road1112 → u/Normal512]

I’d still put him top 5, Dahlin has taken over that 3rd spot in my opinion with how well he’s rounded out his defensive game. Then there’s some debate. Don’t think you can go wrong with Werenski, Josi or Fox in that 4th spot. 

[u/Kyle73001 → u/Normal512]

That’s exactly it. Slavin as a #1 isn’t top tier. He’s top tier defensively but is lacking the offence of an elite #1D

[u/Nerdious-Maximus]

Interesting that Karlsson is next to the bottom despite winning the Norris in 2023. Not saying it’s wrong, just interesting

[u/Cool_9280 → u/Nerdious-Maximus]

He’s getting older and has defensive challenges. And you know what, the fact that he even won the Norris despite his defense problems proves that the Norris is just a points contest

[u/katelyn0123]

I understand why he's not top tier, but I think he for sure deserves one tier higher

[u/Next_Ad3117]

Jaccob Slavin still being disrespected i see

[u/SGT_Baldy]

Jokes

[u/Goodvibesnc]

Comedy

[u/Lumpy_Road1112]

Nothing wrong with this. The fact Slavin is this high when you look at how good the guys around him are offensively and the offensive number they put up is a credit to how good he is actually. No disrespect whatsoever! 

[u/firepipes08]

Oh my god he's still 10th in the league here. This sub loses it's mind every time Slavin is listed as a top 10 defenseman in hockey.