Zdeno Chara Photo credit: Stanley Cup of Chowder

Former NHL Defenseman Jordan Schmaltz has gone out of his way to trash ESPN and their joke of a rankings system.

Of course, the list put Zdeno Chara, and Erik Karlsson above 3-time Stanley Cup winner and former Chicago Blackhawk Duncan Keith.

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Schmaltz would echo this sentiment on X.com:

“Duncan Keith was better than Chara and EK65. 3 mugs. 1 Conne Smitty. 28:11 average TOI in 2010 SC Playoffs. 27:27 in 2013. 31:07 in 2015. Should be ranked inside the top 10-15 easy. 2nd best D-Man of this era behind Nicky Lid. Guy doesn’t get enough credit how big of a machine he was.” Scmaltz tweeted.

Schmaltz would try to balance the situation, as he received critique after his original tweet received heated replies:

“For those who have opinions and takes vouching for their respective players in this case (Big Z and EK65) that’s fine. Those guys are world class generational athletes in their own right. I’m not here to tell you they aren’t HOF’ers. And honestly it’s close with all 3.”

“I’m simply saying, Duncan Keith had the heart of a lion and a mindset of a born killer. Kobe like. A dude that would rip your heart out with a butter knife and smile while doing so. EK65 doesn’t even remotely come close to matching his competitive drive. And I don’t think even on those Chicago teams with Karlsson as your #1 defenseman they win any of those cups.”

“Def not 3x. Chara is Chara. But he never moved or excelled quarterbacking a powerplay like Keith. He was never a one man auto breakout or defended lines with the elite closing ability 2 had. Chara’s presence, size and strength was unmatchable but overall again I’m going Duncan Keith.”

The list mentioned the top 25 NHL players of the 21st century of which Erik Karlsson and Zdeno Chara were ranked 11th and 16th, while Keith was placed 23rd in the rankings.

While Chara’s physical dominance was excellent, and Karlsson’s offensive play is unique to their own skill sets, they don’t have the same career as Duncan Keith had.