Brent Burns

Last Season

Twelve goals and 35 points in 82 games, plus-33, on nineteen minutes a night. He played 62 percent of his five-on-five time with Manson on the second pairing, and did not miss a game.

The Finesse Game

The shot is still a weapon. He has scored 273 career goals from the back end, and twelve at forty-one is not a sentimental number — he gets it through traffic from the point better than most defencemen half his age.

The passing remains good and the puck decisions have gotten simpler, which is the correct adjustment. He no longer tries to carry it through the neutral zone.

The skating is what has gone. He is beaten wide by fast wingers and cannot recover, which is why he plays the second pairing on the right side with a partner who covers ground.

The Physical Game

Six-five and 228, and he is still hard to get around in front of his own net. He does not chase hits; he uses reach and weight to end plays.

The durability is genuinely extraordinary. Eighty-two games at forty-one, after a career of playing every night.

The Intangibles

A Norris, more than 1,500 games, and one of the more recognisable figures in the sport. He converted from forward to defence a lifetime ago and has outlasted almost everyone he came in with.

The plus-33 is the honest headline: in a sheltered role, with the right partner, he is still a genuinely useful NHL defenceman. That will end abruptly, as it does for everyone, and it has not ended yet.