FanHouse JohnnyOduya

Paul Martin doesn't come to mind right away when you're asked to rank the top defensemen in the game, yet one thing has become very evident -- in Tom Gulitti's word, Martin is "irreplaceable" for the Devils.

While his 19 points are pedestrian, Martin has quietly stepped his game into the upper echelon of complete defensemen this year, logging almost 25 solid minutes in a variety of roles. After missing four straight contests with a pulled upper body muscle, it's become obvious the Devils need him back right away if they're going to regain their strong play leading into the season's stretch run.

It's been said that hockey fans have an inferiority complex. If that's true, Devils fans are doubly tortured, as they and their team are the subject of abuse among league loyalists. We're blamed for the degradation of the NHL, the perception that hockey is boring, and indirectly causing not one, but two labor stoppages.

And yeah, maybe the Devils have leaned on defense a lot over the years, but they've also succeeded with offense (in 2000-2001 they led the league with 295 goals). When they hired coach Brent Sutter in 2007, it was supposed to be a new era for the Devils -- new arena, new emphasis on offense, yet the results were depressingly same-y -- 206 goals (2.51 per game).

But in Sutter's second year, the team is making those old knocks on the Devils irrelevant (unless you've got some attendance jokes, in which case the dead horse is over there in the corner).

Through 31 games, the Devils have 99 goals (3.2 per game), good enough for 10th in the league, though every team above them except the Blackhawks has played more games. That's a pace of 262 goals, 15 better than the "amazing" offense the Penguins put together last year. In December, the team is averaging 3.9 goals per. And they're doing it in flashy ways.

So, um, why? How?

Costly win of sorts for the Ducks on Friday, as they lost Teemu Selanne to a leg injury in the first period when it appeared his own skate cut his left leg. He was helped off the ice and didn't return to the game. If he's out for any extended period of time it would obviously be a tremendous blow to Anaheim's offense, as the 38-year old forward leads the team in goals (14) and is third on the team in points (27).

As for the game itself, Anaheim took it, 3-2, in a shootout, thanks to some stellar goaltending from Jonas Hiller, who stopped 51 shots in regulation and overtime, and all three shots he faced in the shootout. The 51 saves actually matched a franchise record, so, way to go Jonas.

The Ducks special teams provided the offense, as Rob Neidermeyer picked up a shorthanded goal with 20 seconds to play in the first period, while Corey Perry notched a power play goal midway through the second period, giving the Ducks a 2-0 lead.

That lead would hold up until the third, when Kyle Brodziak put Edmonton on the board at the 6:32 mark, while Erik Cole tied the game seven minutes later with a power play goal.

Perry scored the only goal in the shootout, giving Anaheim the win.

Johnny Oduya has a really cool name, but that doesn't get the New Jersey Devils defensemen all that much attention. After being selected in the 7th round by the Capitals way back in 2001, the Caps gave up on him fairly quickly and he headed back to Europe, probably thinking he'd never get a shot in the NHL.

The New Jersey Devils, in search of a cheap defenseman to plug into their blue line, ala Brian Rafalski, signed Oduya away from the Swedish league, and the bullish defenseman has quietly become one of the better defensive defensemen in the NHL.

Oduya had 26 points and was +27 (eighth best in the league) in 75 games last season, suggesting he is a pretty solid piece of work. There is more, however, than meets the eye.

One of my favorite bloggers, the man who runs The Puck Stops Here, crunched some numbers to come up with an Adjusted +/- stat. Basically, how does a player affect the game while he is on the ice compared to when he is off the ice?

The top defenseman on the list? Johnny Oduya! That's right, he ranks even higher than pretty boy Nicklas Lidstrom.

Does this mean that Oduya is the NHL's best defensive defenseman? No. The stat does have flaws, but it does highlight the fact that Oduya's defensive play is excellent, and his effect on the New Jersey Devils is very much understated.

And for all of this, the New Jersey Devils had to pay a paltry $600,000 in salary to Oduya last season. Kinda makes that Jeff Finger contract look even worse than it already does.