Poll: Who is the Anaheim Ducks' Number One Defenseman of the
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The Anaheim Ducks have one of the deepest and most potent young defensive cores in the NHL. A fully fleshed out and realized blueline is one of the most important ingredients (maybe the most important ingredient) to building a Stanley Cup championship roster.
A true number one defenseman to lead said blueline is necessary more often than not if a team has ambitions to hoist the greatest trophy in professional sports come June.
The 2023 Vegas Golden Knights had Alex Pietrangelo, the ’22 Colorado Avalanche had Cale Makar, the ’20 and ’21 Tampa Bay Lightning had Victor Hedman, the ‘19 St. Louis Blues also had Pietrangelo, etc. The exception in the last two seasons has been the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, who did it more by committee on their blueline with the trio of Aaron Ekblad-Gustav Forsling-Brandon Montour in 2024 and the trio of Ekblad-Forsling-Seth Jones in 2025.
The definition of what a “number one” defenseman is varies person-to-person, but to me, I define it as the defenseman who plays the most (and that a team often first sends over the boards) in every scenario: 5v5, power play, penalty kill, up a goal late, down a goal, etc.
The Ducks are in a position where they are attempting to put the finishing touches on their elongated rebuild and return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season, ending the third-longest playoff drought in the NHL.
The core pieces when the team is finally contending are all expected to already be within the organization, as they have potential depth and impact at every position from the crease out.
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