“Winning, winning, is the difference from this year to last year,” a Flyers star defenceman in Ivan Provorov said to me in terms of his game in late December-early January. Provorov is a star already, and he’s only just 23-years-old. This young star is making his 6-year $40.50 million deal ($6.75 Million AAV) look like a bargain at this rate. Provorov elevated his game this season, and he contributes that to ‘Winning’.
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Provorov averaged 24:51 in TOI (Time on Ice), per night this past season. He potted the most Power Play Goals by a defensemen with seven, tallied 13 goals and registered 23 assists for 36 points in 69 games played, and was a plus 11. Provorov did everything he could to include sacrificing multiple parts of his body for the Flyers to have success this past season. He’s a warrior, there is no reason for him to be left off a top 25 Defenceman list by the NHL Network.
This is the ultimate snub. There is just no way around this. How does a defenseman that finishes 18th in the James Norris Memorial Trophy voting this past season (An award that’s given to the NHL’s best Defenseman) not factor into the top 25 for the NHL’s top Defenceman list for this coming season?
That makes me wonder who derives these lists? I understand that some people tend to overrate players on their favorite teams, but there is no overrating here. Provorov is amongst the league’s best at his position and the proof is in the pudding even ‘The Captain’ Claude Giroux knows:
