NHL's Top 50: Dion Phaneuf (No. 35)

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 35 is Calgary Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf.

There are quite a few similarities between Calgary's Dion Phaneuf, the No. 35 player in my rankings, and Nashville's Shea Weber, the No. 44 player. They're both 23 years old, were selected in the 2003 draft, and have a very similar skill set. They both possess heavy slap shots from the blue line and are capable of racking up impressive goal totals, while each plays a physically intimidating, and sometimes reckless, type of game.

Honestly, you can't really go wrong by picking one over the other. They're both top-pairing players and can anchor a team's defense for the next decade. So, why did I go with Phaneuf first?

The NHL's Top 50 Players: See the Entire List

Offensively, it's very easy to compare because the numbers simply are what they are. Defensively it's a little more difficult, and far more subjective. Since I hate plus/minus (I consider it more of a team stat than an individual stat) I included blocked shots per 82 games and hits per 82 games. It's not perfect, I know.

The Numbers: Dion Phaneuf vs. Shea Weber
Dion Phaneuf	Category	Shea Weber
65	Goals	48
141	Assists	75
206	Points	123
.20	Goals/Game	.20
.64	Points/Game	.51
16.4	Goals/82 Games	16.4
52.4	Points/82 Games	41.2
88.5	Blocked Shots/82 Games	85.2
188.6	Hits/82 Games	172.2

The raw numbers (goals, assists, points) aren't quite as important to me as the per-game and per-82-game numbers (where Phaneuf has the advantage) because Weber played significantly fewer games in 2005-06 and 2007-08. Naturally he's going to have fewer goals and points.

Draft Year: 2003

The 2003 draft strikes again. Phaneuf was the third rearguard taken in '03 after Nashville's Ryan Suter and Atlanta's Braydon Coburn. Ryan Suter is an excellent player, and he teams up well with Weber, but the idea of a potential defensive unit containing Weber and Phaneuf intrigues me.

Why He's On My List

Despite coming off the worst season of his brief career, I still consider Phaneuf one of the top defensemen in the league. He's a two-time All-Star and was a finalist for the Norris Trophy in 2007-08. Always entertaining to watch because of his offensive game and burning desire to physically skate through every player that lines up across from him.

Obligatory YouTube Video

Phaneuf lays out then Ottawa Senators forward Denis Hamel.