Obviously there are other defensemen that can and probably will take away one or two spots, both sweden and canada has depth beyond these guys, but generally that would probably be it. Which one would you take?
Sweden easily i think. Experience is the only thing that canada has over the swedes here. Sure, thats no small factor, but Sweden simply has more skilled defensemen. enstrom is vastly underrated, Edler is a beast, ekman-larsson is really dominating this year, and karlsson is karlsson.
All of these are extremely close though, I don't want it to look like I'm suggesting it's Canada AINEC because it isn't. I just think most of the Canadians are marginally better than their Swedish counterparts. I did my best to try to match them up in terms of style/role, aside from Weber/Karlsson and Keith/Hedman (you could say Karlsson >> Keith and Weber >>> Hedman but I figured in terms of caliber those other comparisons made more sense). Honestly the way a lot of these are this could change quickly, I wouldn't be all that surprised if Enstrom was better than Doughty by 2014 for example, he has been unreal this year.
All of these are extremely close though, I don't want it to look like I'm suggesting it's Canada AINEC because it isn't. I just think most of the Canadians are marginally better than their Swedish counterparts. I did my best to try to match them up in terms of style/role, aside from Weber/Karlsson and Keith/Hedman (you could say Karlsson >> Keith and Weber >>> Hedman but I figured in terms of caliber those other comparisons made more sense). Honestly the way a lot of these are this could change quickly, I wouldn't be all that surprised if Enstrom was better than Doughty by 2014 for example, he has been unreal this year.
Really? I would say Karlsson pretty clearly beats Weber at this point. OEL and Pietrangelo are about equal, Enstrom beats doughty, especially considering that doughty hasnt replicated his fantastic sophmore season. Edler has a high celing, but letang is more consistant, and keith and seabrook i agree are better than hedman and kronwall.
Canada. Even though Sweden's blueline corps look absolutely unreal if you compare it to say Finland, Russia or the Czech republic Canada still is a small notch above.
Really? I would say Karlsson pretty clearly beats Weber at this point. OEL and Pietrangelo are about equal, Enstrom beats doughty, especially considering that doughty hasnt replicated his fantastic sophmore season. Edler has a high celing, but letang is more consistant, and keith and seabrook i agree are better than hedman and kronwall.
I don't see how OEL and Pietrangelo are equal at this point, as Pietrangelo still looks a tier above him, or how Enstrom beats Doughty. Doughty may not be putting up the same offensive numbers, but he has been a stud for Los Angeles... and this is coming from an Anaheim fan.
I don't see how OEL and Pietrangelo are equal at this point, as Pietrangelo still looks a tier above him, or how Enstrom beats Doughty. Doughty may not be putting up the same offensive numbers, but he has been a stud for Los Angeles... and this is coming from an Anaheim fan.
And Enstrom has 13 points in 10 games this season while being equally as good defensively as Doughty, really underrated D-man.
Karlsson is continuing his play from his norris season, he could easily be the best defenseman of this group by next year.
That being said, Canada is just too deep, I'd go with them.
Remember this is a year from now. Does Brodin have a chance as a 7th defenseman?
Brodin, A. Larsson & Erixon got a chance. Taken that there will be injuries you got to love the depth as I do not think they will be a downgrade in 2014 if they substitute anyone in the OP.
Anyway, Sweden has never been able to field this kind of D-corps on paper.
Points is not all, certainly not for D-men but I added in their production last year in your list just for thought.
Brodin, A. Larsson & Erixon got a chance. Taken that there will be injuries you got to love the depth as I do not think they will be a downgrade in 2014 if they substitute anyone in the OP.
Anyway, Sweden has never been able to field this kind of D-corps on paper.
Points is not all, certainly not for D-men but I added in their production last year in your list just for thought.
I don't think Erixon has a chance, unless there's a bunch of injuries. Quite honestly, I could see Brodin making it into the top 6 or 7 without injured. I haven't seen Larsson play, but if he starts playing like his draft pedigree, he could as well.
I'm actually going for Sweden's D on international ice. While Canada does have some mobile defenseman (Pietrangelo, Letang) I think Sweden has a definite edge here.
If Dougthy play better that he did in vancouver Canada probably.
But Sweden defencemen should be more use on international Ice, and have young superstars that can could get better, Hedman, OEL, if Karlson become better at defence he could become the clear best defencemen of this group.
It would probably be play on the ice to know who have the better momentum and stuff, they could be very close.
This is much closer than I expected. Even with Lidstrom retired Sweden has some top notch skating defencemen who should fare well on the big ice. A slight advantage to Canada because of their depth. In terms of offensive production last year it's almost dead even.
I hope that if Shultz deserves it, he makes it. Is it a stretch to say a rookie 10 games into his NHL career will take a spot that seems already locked? Probably, but you never know.
Ranking them:
#1 Karlsson vs Weber, Pietrangelo, Doughty
#2 Edler, OEL vs Keith, Seabrook Letang
#3 Hedmen Kronwall Enstrom (Not far below #2)
Canada wins with 3 players at the highest level. Unreal depth.
I hope that if Shultz deserves it, he makes it. Is it a stretch to say a rookie 10 games into his NHL career will take a spot that seems already locked? Probably, but you never know.
Ranking them:
#1 Karlsson vs Weber, Pietrangelo, Doughty
#2 Edler, OEL vs Keith, Seabrook Letang
#3 Hedmen Kronwall Enstrom (Not far below #2)
Canada wins with 3 players at the highest level. Unreal depth.
I still think it would be a huge stretch for Schultz to make it even with a few injuries. Hockey Canada tends to use experience as a tiebreaker, remember when Steven Stamkos wasn't on the 2010 team?
