MS Bouwmeester (87 OVR) Review

So I was looking for a left shooting D with Trap to fill out my 3rd pairing and the obvious option was McDonagh for 17k but I figured I would take a look anyway and see what was out there. I noticed an 87 Irwin with T and IS but I compared him to McD and didn't seem as good. But then I noticed this MS Bouwmeester also with T and IS. Ran it through HUT Plaza against McD and hey he wins by 3 categories so I grabbed him and here we are.

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Synergies active: IS, TW, TT, CG, 1T, SB, T

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Line: MOV Ekblad-MS Bouwmeester

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Skating - 8.5/10

Smooth all around in transitions from forwards to back skating. Decent speed. Doesn't get beaten on breakaways and can carry the puck when you need him to. Can get out of trouble using his skating. Zero complaints here. Especially impressive for a guy who is 6'4" 212lbs.

Hands - 7.0/10

Perfectly good for what he is doing. Good on outlet passes. Sets up the 1T and doesn't seems to fan on 1T attempts himself. I don't really do a lot of deking with him and that isn't his thing.

Shooting - 6/10

He can get the 1T off just fine and has a very hard slapper however his accuracy hampers him in this regard. I find the best results are just shooting right at the goalie and hoping for tips or to find a hole in his body. I don't take wristers much with my D so I can't really comment on that. The accuracy is higher so I would expect somewhat better results. However, I would not expect to rack up a lot of goals with this card.

Checking - 9/10

To the extent I hit he does it well. His good mobility and size allow him to close on guys quickly and finish them. He has wrecked a couple of guys on races to loose pucks in the D zone. His poke check is quite good as well.

Defense - 9.0/10

He always seems like he is in position to take away passes. With T and IS both lit he has a 98 defensive awareness and it shows. Passes just don't really seem to get through him much and if there is a chance for him to cut it off he generally will. If I am controlling Ekblad I have no problems leaving him in front of the net to take care of business. He will tie guys up and just generally impeded them even if I am not in control.

Awareness - 9/10

Defensively he is generally in the right spot as mentioned. Offensively he stands where he needs to for the 1T. Since he isn't a forward there isn't too much to say here. :)

Card rating: 87 Actual rating: Closer to 88 or 89 especially with both synergies lit.

Cost on the AH: 25k Ideal role: 3rd pairing, PK, etc.

Cheaper options: McDonagh (17k), TOTW Irwin 87 (13k) More expensive options: TOTW Suter (100k?), HERO Wilson (210k), MOV Duncan Keith (500k?)

Final thoughts - This card kind of reminds me of Ryan Suter/Duncan Keith without the offensive upside. Good skating and size and defensive ability to match. If you are looking for a LD with Trap and don't need offense you could do a lot worse than this guy. Really happy with how this guy plays.