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GRAND FORKS NHL teams love to analyze Stanley Cup winners and look for trends.
There's one emerging on the back end right now.
ADVERTISEMENT The two defensemen who the Carolina Hurricanes used the most on their run to the Stanley Cup were 6-foot-5 K'Andre Miller and 6-foot-3 Jaccob Slavin.
The Florida Panthers leaned on 6-foot-4 Seth Jones, 6-foot-4 Aaron Ekblad and 6-foot-1 Gustav Forsling during their back-to-back Cup runs.
The Vegas Golden Knights looked to 6-foot-4 Alex Pietrangelo and 6-foot-2 Shea Theodore in 2023.
Victor Hedman (6-foot-7) and Ryan McDonagh (6-1) anchored the Tampa Bay Lightning to back-to-back Cups.
This may be the most compelling argument for selecting 6-foot-4, 215-pound UND freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff high in the first round of the NHL Draft on Friday night in Buffalo, N.Y.
2026 CAR: K'Andre Miller (6-5), Jaccob Slavin (6-3) 2025 FLA: Seth Jones (6-4), Aaron Ekblad (6-4) 2024 FLA: Gustav Forsling (6-1), Aaron Ekblad (6-4) 2023 VGK: Alex Pietrangelo (6-3), Shea Theodore (6-2) 2022 COL: Cale Makar (6-0), Devon Toews (6-1) 2021 TBL: Victor Hedman (6-7), Ryan McDonagh (6-1) 2020 TBL: Victor Hedman (6-7), Ryan McDonagh (6-1) 2019 STL: Alex Pietrangelo (6-3), Colton Parayko (6-6) Outside of Cale Makar in 2022, the big-minute defensemen on Stanley Cup-winning teams are not the smaller, shifty blue liners who frequently jump into plays and lead the NHL in defenseman scoring.
It is the big, strong, two-way blue liners who defend at high levels and generate offense in simple ways.
In other words, it is guys who fit Verhoeff's profile.
"I think he's so projectable with his size and the way he skates," an NHL scout told the Herald.
"You feel like he's going to be a guy where you plug him in and you know what you're going to get for the next 15 years as a top-pairing defenseman.
He plays both ways.
He can contribute offensively.
He's big and sturdy defensively.
"I thought there were some growing moments this year, where he was too overactive at times, but that stuff is easy to correct.
I'd rather tame the tiger than try to get it out of him.
I think he's got a high-end potential package that's easily translatable to the NHL.
He's going to play a really long time in a big role." ADVERTISEMENT Yes, Verhoeff went through his ups and downs as a freshman.
But that's expected for the second-youngest defenseman to play college hockey in the last 25 years.
Fans, journalists and even some scouts are in a rush to judge how players' careers will turn out while they're still developing.
But, historically, patience is required when it comes to bigger players.
Remember, Pietrangelo and Theodore were still playing junior hockey two years after they went in the first round.
McDonagh, Slavin and Colton Parayko were in college three years after their drafts.
Even the guys who were fast-tracked to the NHL, like Hedman, took a while to come around.
Verhoeff, much like those guys in their draft years, is far from a finished product.
"Guys really don't start to figure it out until their 20s," UND associate coach Matt Smaby said.
"There's so much to the position.
He's starting at such a high floor with his ability.
His puck skills are really good.
He does have the ability to defend.
The cherry on top is that he was playing at the NCHC level.
That stress-tests your game big time.
It's not junior hockey anymore.
It's probably the closest thing to playing pro hockey as far as what guys see night in and night out with opponents, team structure and tight windows.
I thought he handled himself extremely well going through all of that." Verhoeff's game was nitpicked, which is expected for any top NHL prospect.
That was especially the case in the second half of the season.
ADVERTISEMENT There's no doubt that Verhoeff had both excellent games and challenging games.
But those focused on the fact that Verhoeff's point total dried up in the second half of the season are missing what happened.
In the first half, Verhoeff piled up the points, but also constantly jumped deep into the offensive zone even sometimes when nothing was there.
In the second half, Verhoeff dialed it back.
He was much smarter about when he pinched.
His style looked much more like those Stanley Cup-winning anchors than the guys who pile up points in November and December.
Verhoeff's team went roughly two months without losing a regulation game in the second half.
UND won the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions and reached the NCAA Frozen Four.
In the first half, Verhoeff showed his offensive ability.
In the second half, he showed he knows when to keep it simple.
ADVERTISEMENT "The biggest takeaway for me was that I thought he adapted well," UND head coach Dane Jackson said.
"He started to understand what he could do and what he couldn't.
He got a little simpler and more mature with his puck decisions.
It wasn't always perfect.
He has a lot of high-end offensive instincts.
I thought he did a good job of figuring out when to try stuff and when to make a basic play.
I thought he progressed nicely." Games change in the playoffs.
Things get tighter.
Defensemen aren't wandering the offensive zone as often.
The five-man cycle isn't as prevalent.
It's a much simpler style of hockey.
Slavin, a former Colorado College star, won an Olympic gold medal and a Stanley Cup this year.
He had no goals, one assist in the Olympics.
He had no goals and five points in 19 playoff games.
But he played winning playoff hockey.
"I think what you watch, especially now in the NHL playoffs, is guys take what the game gives them," Smaby said.
"They don't try to make something out of nothing.
That's the biggest learning curve for young defensemen to find a way to be simple but efficient.
Keaton's natural ability will take over at points in games when space opens up." Verhoeff probably won't ever lead the NHL in defenseman scoring.
But he might help you win a Stanley Cup.
ADVERTISEMENT He looks a lot like the guys who are doing it right now.