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Thursday Caterwaul: Florida Panthers Open Forum

Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

The accolades continue to roll in for the Florida Panthers as defenseman Gustav Forsling was ranked sixth on NHL Network’s countdown Top 20 Defensemen Right Now, ranking the best defensemen in the National Hockey League. The 28-year-old Swede and 2024 Stanley Cup champion finished one spot ahead of the Boston Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins and one spot behind Miro Heiskanen of the Dallas Stars. In addition to Forsling, teammate Aleksander Barkov ranked fifth on NHL Network’s Top 20 Centers Right Now last week, while Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart ranked second and ninth, respectively, on Top 20 Wings Right Now and Sergei Bobrovsky ranked seventh on Top 10 Goalies Right Now three weeks back.

The Top 20 Defensemen Right Now countdown includes two Calder Memorial Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy wins, six James Norris Memorial Trophy wins, seven Stanley Cup championships, eight All-Rookie Team selections and 27 All-Star selections. Pretty heady company for the former waiver claim.

NHL Network’s Top 20 Defensemen Right Now, 1-20:

  1. Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
  2. Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
  3. Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
  4. Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
  5. Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
  6. Gustav Forsling, Florida Panthers
  7. Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
  8. Adam Fox, New York Rangers
  9. Evan Bouchard, Edmonton Oilers
  10. Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche
  11. Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
  12. Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
  13. Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
  14. Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets
  15. Noah Dobson, New York Islanders
  16. Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton Oilers
  17. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
  18. Noah Hanifin, Vegas Golden Knights
  19. Dougie Hamilton, New Jersey Devils
  20. Mo Seider, Detroit Red Wings

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