San Jose Sharks forward Logan Couture recently penned an article at The Players' Tribune talking about the five toughest (aka best) defensemen he has had to go up against in the NHL.
One of those five defensemen happens to be Calgary Flames' captain Mark Giordano.
Here is an excerpt of why Couture feels Giordano is so good:
Offensively, he’s excellent at moving the puck on the power play and finding soft spots in defensive coverage. He has the same type of shot as Burnzie, where he pulls the puck in close and changes the angle to get his shot through really tight spaces....
The thing that separates Giordano is how active he is in jumping into the play — he almost becomes a fourth forward at times. You’ll see him all the way down behind the net and in the blue paint, but if Calgary turns the puck over, he has the speed to recover.
Giordano is an all-around player — solid in every part of his game.
The whole article is worth a read - it's always cool to get in-depth perspective from a high-end player - but I'll share that the other defensemen featured were Brent Burns, Roman Josi, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith.
All five play in the Western Conference so Couture clearly has some West Coast bias - he plays those guys a lot - but Giordano is lumped in with some pretty good company.
The most surprising thing for me is Brent Seabrook being mentioned - I don't think he's as good as many make him out to be - over someone like Drew Doughty.
What do you guys think of Couture's list?
Recent posts: Flames sign Roman Dyukov