Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Best NHL Team That Money Can Buy: Third Pairing
- Mattias Ekholm. Ekholm has been a bit of a victim of Nashville’s incredible blue line depth. That said, he is a very underrated defenseman. His dCI of 140.46 ranked 11th among all NHL blue liners. He’s a very reliable stay at home defenseman who would contribute to the penalty kill. His cap hit is just $1.038 million.
- Jared Spurgeon. Spurgeon is more of a reputation pick as is dCI isn’t outstanding, but he’s still a very good defenseman. His dCI of 100.08 fell just outside of the top 20 among NHL blue liners. More importantly, he’s right-handed and his $2,666,667 cap hit is reasonable considering his age and how quickly he’s improving. There were cheaper options, but I’ll trust Spurgeon over them.
Next: Goaltenders