Olympic power rankings – Defence

As expected, Canada is very well-stocked on the blueline, with the top four ranked blueliners in the NHL so far season — Mike Green, Dan Boyle, Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty. All are fine skaters and productive offensive defencemen, but it could be difficult for all of them to make the squad, considering needs for size and more physical defensive defencemen.

Along those lines, the likes of Chris Pronger, Shea Weber and Brent Seabrook will earn consideration as will the Calgary Flames trio of Jay Bouwmeester, Dion Phaneuf and Robyn Regehr.

It speaks to Canada’s exceptional defensive depth that players like Ed Jovanovski and Stephane Robidas are having strong NHL seasons, yet don’t seem likely to be named to Canada’s tournament roster.

Notably absent from the Top 30 rankings is veteran Anaheim defenceman Scott Niedermayer, who is ranked 31st; limited by his minus-5 rating for a struggling Ducks team, but he still figures to be a strong consideration for a spot with Team Canada.

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