Dman

What do u need to know?
Poirier is a forward that was moved to d(not literally)
Schneider is a tough kinda old school d
Guhle is big, pretty good skater and can hit
Helge grans despite his numbers is a safe defensive defence man.
Villeneuve is pretty smart, can move the puck well, good vision.
Yan is an old school, hard and heavy d
If u need a pp qb, that’s where Cormier comes in handy(obviously after drysdale).
Wallinder is bipolar(better than drysdale one day, barely a second rounder the next) your betting on his height and very good skating. Under the right coach and system could be a beast.
This is not an order just some info. Anyone else

Thanks, it's just that I wanted to make myself a toought about who should go when. I've seen a guy like O'Rourke sometimes in the top20, sometimes in the late second round. I understand that Barron/Schneider/Guhle seem to be in the second group, after Sanderson and Drysdale. The other will go end 1st round to second round

After Sanderson it truly depends on what u value in a d. Big and strong? Skating? Passing? Stay at home?

From what I read it seems like dominant offensive dman (that can defend at least a little) are pretty rare this year. Villeneuve could be a great fit for MTL, we really need these transitional/offensive dman.

I’d like him a lot. Also grans. Big can skate and is pretty responsible defensively. But yes those high caliber offensive dman are few and far between after drysdale.

I don’t like the defenseman crop at all this year, but my tentative rankings currently are:

1. Drysdale (7th)
2. Sanderson (13th)
3. Guhle (25th)
4. Niemela (28th)
5. Andrae (30th)
6. Wallinder (34th)
7. O’Rourke (35th)
8. Cormier (39th)
9. Grans (41st)
10. Schneider (43rd)
11. Villeneuve (47th)
12. Poirier (48th)
13. Powell (53rd)
14. Johannesson (57th)
15. Miller (61st)


Mukhamadullin and Barron are two guys who are gonna go high that I just did not like at all in my viewings.

Interesting list

I think Grans probably has the ability to move up in my rankings. I haven’t really seen much of him outside of his disastrous Hlinka, but I need to circle back.

It’s a solid list. Schneider and villeneuve I find low and Cormier and niemela are high for me. But with d this year it’s all about style

I’m a big Niemela guy. Love the simple puck-moving ability combined with some solid defense. I also think he’s got untapped offense that could show up more and more as he acclimated to pro-hockey.

Niemla is so underrated, one of my favorites in this class. I agree with everything you said. He also isn't afraid to play the body (but doesn't always go for the big hit) and he's such a smooth skater. I can see him going a lot higher than people are expecting.

Unpopular Opinion: This is the worst draft for defencemen in a while but the best for offence since the 2010s