Nicklas Lidstrom Review!

I've been away from this sub for a while (been looking at it, but just lurking). Looking to get back into being active here, I'll start w/ this. Did a few reviews last year and had lots of fun with it.

Now to the review:

Price: 175k-225k (Xbox One)

Synergies active: DR, HH, TT, T

Played with: Christmas Ristolainen(89) on line 1 and PP 1, Alex Pietrangelo(88) on PK 1.

Stats: his stats have been reset (accidentally) plenty and I don't keep track myself, but he has 2 assists in 2 games since they last reset.

Skating: 8/10
Lidstrom isn't a burner with only 88 speed and 90 acceleration, but he isn't a slouch out there. He can keep up with the play when he brings the puck up the ice, and can keep up with opposing forwards on the backcheck. He turns well with his 93 agility, but sometimes fucks it up when someone is going past him (but who doesn't do that at least once in a while?)

Shooting: 9.5/10
Holy shit. His wrister is average with only 85 accuracy to go with a solid 90 power, but that's not the good part. His slap shot is wicked. An absolute bomb that snipes a lot. Although it doesn't show in the stats, he's played in 10-15 games and has scored at least 5 goals, and I don't shoot too often with my defencemen. If you give Nick to walk in a bit and rip it, then you'd better get planning how you're gonna get that goal back.

Hands: 8.5/10
I don't dangle much, and I'm shit at passing in general, so I'm not great at giving reviews on this category. He passes well, has good, pretty quick hands, is able to keep the puck on his stick pretty well, haven't noticed anything wrong. This part can be pretty lenient, take the review with a grain of salt.

Checking: 9/10
This man can hit. A pair of him and the 6'4" Rasmus Ristolainen lay the body all day long. Lidstrom will have hits where you think that you'll bounce off of the guy, maybe knock him off the puck lightly, but then he just flattens the guy. He's good at fighting through checks too, he's strong on the puck and can fight guys off that are around his size, and even sometimes guys bigger.

Defence: 10/10
Now this might be inflated some by the T and DR synergies, but he's incredible. Most of his poke checks that connect will take the puck off the stick of the attacker, and he rarely takes tripping or slashing/hooking/high sticking penalties (I'm not sure if he's taken a single one while I've had him). I'm not great at defence, and I take lots of stick infractions, but Lidstrom plays incredible defence without sitting in the box for 2 minutes at a time. He's great at picking off passes as well, whether I'm controlling him or not.

Overall: 9.5/10
By far the best defenceman I've used all year. That isn't saying much, as I haven't used many top end d-men, but Nick will 100% be staying on my team for the rest of the year. He's fantastic defensively and has an incredible slap shot, and is definitely no slouch in the other areas. At the lower end of his price range (around 175k, sometimes less), he is a fantastic pickup. The high end is what I feel should always be his price. He may play better because of the synergies I have active, but I have none to help his shot or skating, so his shot is a pure ripper, and someone with TW would likely be burning guys left, right, and center.

I hope to be more active on the sub now, and will likely be bringing more reviews in the future. This really is a great place with some great people!