Depending on the pockets of plays one views and the specific statistics one considers, one can look at Charlie McAvoy and see Aaron Ekblad.



McAvoy, 21, is a 6-foot, 208-pound right-shot defenseman selected No. 14 in 2016. Ekblad, 23, is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound right-shot blueliner picked first overall in 2014.



This season, according to Natural Stat Trick, McAvoy is averaging 17:51 of five-on-five ice time per game and posting 1.47 points-per-60 minutes through 32 games. Ekblad is logging 17:49 per appearance and averaging 0.83 points/60 after 57 games.



To this stage in their respective careers, neither McAvoy nor Ekblad has become a point-pushing defenseman like Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson or John Carlson. This description may never capture who they are.



But despite relatively limited clusters of performance (both McAvoy and Ekblad have concussion histories), their long-term profiles are defined as all-situations top-pair defensemen. This makes them...