NHL’s best players under age 25 for 2017: Hampus Lindholm marks the first defenseman chosen at No. 21

Note: This is SB Nation NHL’s top 25 players under age 25 series! We’ll be covering each player from No. 25 to No. 1 over the next few weeks leading up to training camp time. See the complete list and information on how the rankings were compiled.

Our first defenseman to grace our top 25 players under 25 list is Hampus Lindholm. The 23-year-old blueliner for the Anaheim Ducks might not be the flashiest or most offensive-minded player on this list, but his steady defensive skills are more than enough to put him at the No. 21 spot.

Lindholm was taken as the sixth-overall draft pick in the 2012 draft, but it wasn’t until the 2013-14 season when the Swedish-born defenseman got a shot at the NHL. Since then, Lindholm has provided stability on a very solid back end for the Ducks.

While Lindholm’s offensive numbers won’t shock you — he has 112 points in 302 regular season games across four seasons — he is the definition of an up-and-coming two-way defenseman. Since joining the league in 2013, Lindholm has the 12th-highest Corsi For percentage among active defensemen at 53.1 percent, according to Hockey Reference.

He is also the youngest defenseman in that group and has the third-highest percentage of defensive zone starts among the top 12. So while Lindholm may not provide the biggest offensive spark, the Ducks have clear reason to trust him in his own zone.

That isn’t to say Lindholm isn’t useless as providing offense. While his strengths lie on the defensive side of the puck, Lindholm has provided two 30-point seasons so far through his career and there’s no real reason to think he can’t repeat or exceed those performances in the future. Lindholm did put up just 20 points in 66 games last season, but much of the missed time came from being unsigned by Ducks until late October.

And what a signing it was, as Lindholm came in on a six-year, $31.5 million contract. Considering Seth Jones, Morgan Rielly, and Rasmus Ristolainen all got comparable contracts, according to Cap Friendly, Lindholm’s deal will no doubt be looked back upon as a steal.

Lindholm didn’t immediately start out a stud defenseman for the Ducks, as while he was drafted in 2012, he made his North American debut with the Norfolk Admirals in the AHL for one season after previously playing in Sweden. The defenseman did, however, help lead Team Sweden’s under-18 team to a World Junior silver in 2012 with his four assists in six games.

It was only after giving his game time to adjust on North American ice for a season that Lindholm made the team the next year and put up a 30-point season in 78 games. His impressive rookie year put him at seventh overall in Calder Trophy voting, with less than 100 votes separating Lindholm from fourth-place Torey Krug of the Bruins.

In 2014-15, Lindholm put up a career high in assists (27) and points (34) to put a stamp on his excellent passing and playmaking abilities.

While Lindholm’s previous seasons have shown more of his offensive side, coming out of the 2015-16 season the defenseman was making every single player he played with for at least 75 minutes at 5-on-5 better in terms of possession. Since, Lindholm has been a key cog in the Ducks defensive machine and has slowly but surely emerged as Anaheim’s No. 1 defenseman.

It’s likely telling that as Lindholm’s offensive zone starts at even strength have decreased steadily over the years, so has his offensive production. We’ve stated before that Lindholm likely could hit or exceed 30 points per season on any given year, and his ceiling is probably not much higher than that. And that’s OK!

What should be exciting for Ducks fans is that the team has trusted Lindholm more in his defensive zone as he has progressed in his development, and last year the 23-year-old was second only to Cam Fowler in terms of average time on ice in all situations. In Lindholm, the Ducks know they have a solid defenseman who fits the bill of a No. 1 guy in all but his overall time on the ice. Now, the Ducks just have to give him that time to shine.

And by all trends, the Anaheim coaching staff will give Lindholm his due this season. Since his rookie year, Lindholm has seen his average time on ice slowly climb from 19-and-a-half minutes a night to nearly 22-and-a-half minutes, according to Hockey Reference. With no contract dispute to eat up ice time, Lindholm is well on his way to leading the Ducks defensive core as the team’s best blue liner.

A lot of talented defenseman made our honorable mentions list, and it could be argued that players like John Klingberg or Dougie Hamilton should have made the list over Lindholm. Both Hamilton and Klingberg have more points and a higher points-per-game pace than Lindholm does, and it’s clear they have more of an offensive upside than the Ducks defenseman.

However, Lindholm’s incredible possession numbers and defensive responsibility have the edge here. He actually leads Hamilton and Klingberg in defensive point shares, a metric from Hockey Reference that estimates exactly how many points a player contributes due to his defense.

Lindholm clearly elevates his teammates when he’s on the ice, and while that may not translate directly into individual points on the scoresheet, the young defenseman is poised to lead the Ducks defense for years to come.

Highest rank: No. 6

Lowest rank: Not ranked