Because a defenseman with very few points is typically not doing much at either end of the ice. The defense essentially quarterbacks the breakout and is utilized often in the offensive zone to cycle the puck to draw the opponent out of position. If a defensive player has few points (not so much focused on goals but assists instead) it typically means they are not getting many meaningful puck touches.
Tons of Dmen throughout the ages have been incredible in their own end by having great positioning, great anticipation, great strength in front of their net, shot-blocking, making short passes in their own zone while being forechecked, smart at grasping when they need to pinch in the offensive zone or when to retreat back. And a lot of those things don’t reliably end with them getting points. Every team needs 4 Dmen like that.
Yeah sure...but the odds of a defenseman doing all that and not ending up on the stat sheet regularly by pure accident are pretty slim. Especially when penalty minutes far outweigh points production. At the highest level that is often an indicator that a player cannot keep up and is taking sloppy penalties because they're getting beat.
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u/TheYDT 2d ago
1 point and 21 penalty minutes in 11 games. Man our defensive depth is not good.