The public wasn't kind to the Montreal Canadiens' decision to trade defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators for Shea Weber. But privately, the opinions of hockey people were split. If anything, they leaned toward favoring Montreal. They praised Weber's leadership and consistency. They said he's a guy you want playing in the biggest moments in the biggest games.
Some questioned whether the same could be said with absolute certainty for Subban, enough that you started to wonder how many actually liked the trade from a Nashville point of view.
That question faded when the results of our season preview poll started to return. We asked 13 NHL coaches and executives to list the top three blue lines in the NHL. The Predators were listed first on half of them. Nashville is only going to be as good as the defense performs, which is just fine with the guys on the Predators.
"It's already the biggest key to our game," Predators forward Filip Forsberg said. "With adding Subban, another offensive minded D-man who wants to skate the puck and make plays -- that's how the game is developing. Puck-moving D's are what you want right now. Obviously, we have a lot of them."
Here's a look at the results of the NHL's best-defense poll (and click here to see how our panel voted on the forward groups):
The panel: 13 coaches and executives (eight GMs and assistant GMs; five head coaches and assistants).
The method: Each responder listed the top three defenseman groups in the NHL. A first-place vote earned a team three points, a second-place vote earned two and a third-place vote one.
The results
1. Nashville Predators (25 points)
This defense is the gold standard of the league right now. It's constructed in the way you have to be to win in the NHL, with skating and puck-moving ability throughout every pair. The addition of Subban changes the dynamic, but doesn't necessary change where they would have ended up on this poll had it been done a year ago.
"They were No. 1 last year as well, in my opinion," one NHL assistant coach said.
Subban and Roman Josi are legitimate Norris Trophy candidates. Mattias Ekholm quietly put up 35 points last season and might be even better this season. He looked in place on a Sweden defense in the World Cup that was the best in the tournament, good enough to leave John Klingberg at home.
"He's following the rush, playing solid defense and killing a lot of penalties," Forsberg said of Ekholm. "Just watching him on a regular basis in Nashville -- he's taking steps every year."
2. (tie) Anaheim Ducks (14 points)
This one comes with a caveat: The Ducks' defense drops down the list considerably if Hampus Lindholm isn't on it. Lindholm currently is without a contract, and the restricted free agent is in danger of missing the start of the regular season.
"They drop," one assistant GM said of the Ducks without Lindholm.
This defense will look different at some point once Lindholm returns, because it's loaded with depth and younger players like Josh Manson and Shea Theodore, who are ready for expanded roles. The Ducks are a strong trade candidate in the short term, with Cam Fowler the most likely to be moved.
2. (tie) St. Louis Blues (14 points)
This is another defense that looks great now but might look different by season's end, depending on how the Blues deal with Kevin Shattenkirk, who is scheduled to be a unrestricted agent after this season. But right now, this is as deep a defense as there is in the NHL.
Alex Pietrangelo is the Norris candidate, and Jay Bouwmeester joined Pietrangelo on the Team Canada World Cup roster. Bouwmeester wasn't great in the playoffs last spring, but is still a rock-solid, top-four defenseman.
Colton Parayko was a revelation last season on this defense, with his size, big shot and strong skating ability. Carl Gunnarsson, Robert Bortuzzo and Joel Edmundson fill out the rest of this D.
4. (tie) Washington Capitals (six points)
With star power up front in Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov, the defense sometimes gets overshadowed, but they earned two first-place votes by panelists. Those were the only two ballots they were on, but those two loved the Capitals' defense.
"[It's the] diversity -- size, balance, ability to match up," a Western Conference assistant coach said. "It wasn't just their goalie who won the Vezina."
It is a very diverse defense. John Carlson has a well-rounded game. Matt Niskanen and Dmitry Orlov are good skaters and puck movers. Brooks Orpik brings a physical edge and Karl Alzner is rock solid in the defensive zone.
4. (tie) Chicago Blackhawks (six points)
GM Stan Bowman believes this defense is the deepest it has been in years, and he's right. The return of Brian Campbell was a nice, low-cost move that few teams can replicate considering the discount Campbell gave the Blackhawks to join them.
Duncan Keith is the Norris Trophy candidate of this defense and Niklas Hjalmarsson is a defenseman every coach would love to plug in to their top six. He's a warrior. It's amazing he's still able to skate considering how many pucks he's put his body in front of.
The bottom of the depth chart is fascinating. Without spending much money, Bowman has a trio of Gustav Forsling, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Michal Kempny capable of pushing for more opportunity.
6. Tampa Bay Lightning (five points)
The Lightning are similar to the Capitals in that their forwards tend to get more attention, but this is another well-built defense.
"Their D corps is very underrated," one assistant coach said. "Their dynamic offensive forwards draw a great deal of attention, but I believe that their D is the link to their success up front. Their D has a mix of everything -- size, mobility, skill, grit, range and intelligence."
7. San Jose Sharks (three points)
This might be too low for the Sharks. They have a Norris Trophy candidate, Brent Burns, providing all kinds of offense. They have the perfect balance in Marc-Edouard Vlasic, a player so dependable that Mike Babcock brings Vlasic with him to every international tournament with Team Canada.
"The top five is very good for me," one Western Conference assistant GM said. "Paul Martin is the question if he has slowed down, but he's so smart."
With Burns and Vlasic on the roster, Peter DeBoer doesn't need to play Martin as much as teams in the past. Martin, 35, averaged 20:44 of ice time per game in his first season with the Sharks, the lowest since his rookie season in New Jersey.
8. (tie) Carolina Hurricanes (two points)
The Hurricanes generated a second-place vote, which might be more of a projection than a reflection of the team last season. This is a good young defense, and the main reason Carolina is starting to emerge as a popular playoff pick.
Justin Faulk is the centerpiece, but there's a lot to like beyond Faulk. Noah Hanifin had 22 points last season after breaking into the league at 18 years old. He's only going to get better.
The defenseman who people will soon discover is better than they realize is Jaccob Slavin. He averaged more than 20 minutes per game as a rookie, and was next in line to make Team North America for the World Cup if there had been one more opening. This is a young, green defense without a ton of depth, but it's trending the right way and quickly.
8. (tie) Florida Panthers (two points)
After winning the division, the Panthers completely revamped their defense. There are some out there who believe Florida will miss the edge that a guy like Erik Gudbranson brought to that defense, but the Panthers have the kind of strong-skating, offensive blue line that teams need to succeed in the NHL right now.
Yes, they paid too much for Keith Yandle. But they have enough young players making lower salaries that they could overextend a bit in free agency. And Yandle has a dynamic to his game few possess in hockey.
If you gave GMs truth serum, they'd probably say they were more upset with the Aaron Ekblad contract than the Yandle deal, because it raised the price on second contracts for young defensemen. But the Panthers know what they have in Ekblad and were smart to lock him up long term.