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In this edition of the hotstove we look at some of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL.
Todd Cordell
I'm going with Anaheim Ducks blueliner Josh Manson.
Some casual hockey fans probably have never heard of him but he's been excellent in the 122 games he's played since breaking into the NHL late in 2014-15.
With Manson on the ice at 5 v 5 the Ducks have controlled 56.1% of the shot attempts and 53.1% of the goals. No Ducks defenseman ranks ahead of him in the former and only Hampus Lindholm, one of the league's best blueliners, ranks ahead of him in the latter.
Manson doesn't bring much to the table in terms of offense but he is physical, positionally sound and an excellent play driver. He is one of the few 'defensive defensemen' that is legitimately good.
The former 6th round pick has turned out to be a huge steal for the Ducks.
James Tanner
The most underrated defenseman in the NHL is Jake Gardiner. Misused on a bad team by Ron Wilson, Gardiner's early defensive struggles earned him a reputation he can't seem to overcome as a bad defender, even though his impact on games comes mostly on the defensive side.
In his four years in Toronto he has always had a positive Corsi relative to his team, and he demonstrably makes those he plays with better.
He also consistently puts 30 points despite never really getting a ton of power play time.
He's done all this while playing on a bad team, often with bad partners like Roman Polak. Despite being factually and objectively superior to Morgan Rielly, he gets ignored by the insular echo chamber of the main-stream-media and those who aspire to join it.
He is the Leafs best defenseman and has one of the best contracts in the NHL. Though he doesn't get the credit he deserves, as one of the top 30 NHL players at his position, he is a "#1 Dman" and the most underrated player in the NHL.
Peter Tessier
The idea of underrated is a hard one to discuss because the task is to find a player who is good but does not get much respect or press. I prefer the idea of unheralded more, as in it's not that they get rated low they just don't get widespread acclaim.
It's easy to go down a list of defence and list off notable names and ask the question of 'is he underrated?' it's finding guys who no one really talks about and with that I'm going with Colton Paryako.
Far from a household name, and certainly not placed in that upper echelon of exciting players this 2nd-year player has a lot of things going for him. While guys like Gostisbehere get so much press Paryako might be a better player. Right now Paryako is rocking a 54% Corsi but a 973 PDO.
The guy is helping drive possession and his one ice save percentage is an almost decent .923 at 5V5. I think he should get a fair bit more love for a 2nd-year player and perhaps some more press to as he could be one hell of a player soon.
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