When the best defensemen in the NHL or Norris Trophy nominees are brought up, it's Cale Makar, Roman Josi, Victor Hedman or Adam Fox.
Defensemen nowadays are over-judged on offensive capabilities than what their real job is: defending.
And when it comes to that, Charlie McAvoy is the best in the league. According to datadrivenhockey on Instagram, the Bruins blue liner is tops the NHL in one specific category, expected goals for percentage (xGF%).
xGF% is is a stat where we use shot quality to determine which team is expected to score more goals when a certain player is one the ice by looking at the difference between expected goals for (xGF) and expected goals against (xGA).
