ANAHEIM – Delayed, yes, but not deterred.

Now that Hampus Lindholm is up to speed and firmly in the fold, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle is making the dream scenario of his defense corps a reality. In his team’s 4-1 home win over Edmonton on Tuesday, Carlyle let it be known his top two pairings will be left to his youngest and most talented legs.

Lindholm was reunited with Josh Manson, while Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen are set to become a full-time pair. Vatanen and Manson are 25, Fowler is 24 and Lindholm is 22. Against the Oilers, each of the four was on the ice for one or more of the Ducks’ goals.

All have shown the capability of delivering 20 quality minutes of ice time, if not 25 when it’s required. They’re a top four most coaches would crave having in an NHL that’s relying on young talent more than ever.

“You see a lot more young defensemen playing in the league,” Carlyle said. “The game has changed to a puck possession and a puck recovery situation. There’s more of an exclamation point put on that part of the game than the brawn historically.

“It’s puck moving. Puck recovery. Boxing out. It’s providing offense, a second tier of offense. Getting up in the play, which goes with the skating ability. All those things are things that have changed in the game.”

Lindholm’s contract snafu that lingered into the end of October forced Carlyle to deviate from Plan A. Four games in, Lindholm is back to logging more than 20 minutes and drawing the toughest defensive assignments.

Carlyle started the Lindholm-Manson pair against Connor McDavid and the Oilers’ top line Tuesday but also used Fowler and Vatanen against Edmonton’s 19-year-old star at other points. The tag-team approach helped hold McDavid without a point.

While a new top four on defense was revealed, Carlyle is also keeping the third pairing of Clayton Stoner and Kevin Bieksa in the mix. The two veterans will be asked to take some of the penalty-killing duties away from the youngsters. Bieksa, who played 22-plus minutes Tuesday, is still a part of the power play.

And while the four are youthful in age, they’re not all that green when it comes to experience. Manson has the fewest NHL games (115), while Fowler has the most (431). Only Manson, who got hurt early in last spring’s playoff loss to Nashville, doesn’t have a significant postseason track record.

“They have experience,” Carlyle said. “Again, that’s where we’re at with our group. We just think going forward that we’d like to have those guys play and they’re going to play a lot of hockey for us, as long as they can stay healthy.

“That’s not to say the other guys aren’t important. That’s not what this is about. We’re a team. We just think that grouping of defensemen can supply us yeoman minutes. And we’re comfortable putting them on the ice.”

Keeping all four together over the long term will be the Ducks’ greatest challenge. Lindholm is locked in through 2022 and Vatanen until 2020, while the contracts for Fowler and Manson are up at the end of next season. But as long as they’re in Anaheim, it is a group that can keep growing as a unit.

“Everybody hopes that we can stay together,” Vatanen said. “We have a good group of guys here. Especially the d-corps is young right now and there’s a couple of guys coming from the minors too.

“We just have to grow up and try to be better. I think everybody’s doing that. We got a good combination on the back end. I like that a lot.”

In joking that Fowler is “an old man already,” Vatanen said changing partners isn’t a big deal because all four have played with each other for varying lengths of time. Being able to communicate on the ice and having a history “helps a lot,” he said.

Carlyle said he isn’t doing anything that wasn’t already done under former coach Bruce Boudreau. He scouted enough of the Ducks last season to conclude that Lindholm and Manson together was a top defensive pair league-wise to his eyes, with advanced statistics backing that up.

Assistant coach Trent Yawney, who continues to run the defense, was retained in part to keep continuity as the foursome continues to mature.

“We hope they develop,” Carlyle said. “They’re young players. They still have room to grow as players. Your plan in the summer is to have a full contingent of NHL defensemen ready and the signing of Hampus just solidified that group.

“It’s always good to see but we have to live it. You can talk about it but they have to live it. And they got to go out and perform night in and night out.”

SGARBOSSA ON THE MOVE

The Ducks dealt center Michael Sgarbossa to Florida for forward Logan Shaw. Sgarbossa, 24, had two assists in nine games this season.

Shaw, 24, has been with the Panthers’ AHL team in Springfield, Mass., this season. He played in 53 games with Florida in 2015-16, totaling five goals and two assists. He also appeared in his first three Stanley Cup playoff games.

No decision has been made on whether Shaw will report to Anaheim or the Ducks’ AHL team in San Diego. Shaw won’t require waivers if he is assigned to the minors.

Contact the writer: estephens@scng.com