Interesting charts show some big name defencemen struggle in certain areas

In recent years, some from the hockey community have really taken after analytics and believe it is the best way to judge a players performance.

This has turned into somewhat of a controversial topic, as there is the other crowd who despises analytics and believes solely in the eye test. The truth is, it likely lies somewhere in the middle, as you can't judge a player solely on a chart, but they do provide some valuable information. Regardless of your opinion on them, they can be interesting to look at, and one of the biggest analytics accounts on Twitter, JFresh, posted some interesting charts on Wednesday evening looking at numerous NHL defencemen.

As this first list shows, some pretty good players fall into that top 20 category for turnovers per 60 minutes. While some of those names aren't surprising, there are certainly a few that most wouldn't have guessed. However, it is easiest to have the most giveaways when you have the puck on your stick the most, a common theme for the players on this list.

Perhaps the more interesting two lists appear here, showing which defencemen win and lose the most puck battles. Seeing two well respected blueliners in Nick Leddy and Charlie McAvoy lead the list are quite surprising, as is seeing a player regarded as having tremendous strength in Darnell Nurse. There are a few interesting names of players who win the most puck battles as well, particularly Brent Burns placing in second.

These stats certainly don't paint the whole picture into what makes a good defencemen, as there are many other attributes players can have in their game. Regardless, it is quite interesting to see, and may give fans something to watch for in the 2021-22 season.

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