Many coaches place great importance on the L-R combination; Mike Babcock, for instance, is considered a big "Side Whore" (not to be confused with "Size Whores," i.e., coaches who insist on size in the lineup).
However, with national teams and also in the NHL, you simply have a larger selection than with club teams in weaker leagues, where you often have to take what's available on the market.
The "right-shot PP defenceman" that all teams are looking for (Linz still is) has meanwhile become a ridiculed phrase.
These are their advantages
But why should such a distribution play a role? It's about the following situations (always from the perspective of the rarer righty defenceman):
Faceoff in your own zone shortly before the end, right side: The coach sends a right-shot centre (RC) onto the ice to win the draw into the right corner. The defenceman can then clear the puck out of the zone using the boards or the glass if an opening arises. As a left-shot player, this is much more difficult because the angle is wrong, and there's a risk of losing the puck or attempting to clear it in the middle of the ice.
Puck in the neutral zone - the righty D can move the puck via the rim along the side and end boards into the left corner, where his teammates are pressing; the goalie has to decide in a split second whether to go behind the net or not.
Puck in the offensive zone - on the right side, your stick is always closer to the boards, so clearing attempts can be stopped, and passes from behind the net can be controlled better. As a left-shot player, you receive the puck on your backhand there, and the lost split seconds can be exploited by forwards. Such situations occur dozens of times in every game.
But, of course, no disadvantage without an advantage: Playing on the "wrong" side, your stick points towards the middle. This gives you a better angle for shots than from the side, especially if you can quickly push towards the centre. This is also why, during offensive faceoffs, the two defencemen (if they are L-R) often switch sides.
Often on the wrong side
Many defencemen have few problems playing on their "off-side" and build entire careers out of it. These will almost always be left-shot players, as they are available in a 2:1 ratio (at least).
Other skilled players have more problems on their wrong side but have to comply. However, I also remember once asking Thimo Nickl that he was always positioned on the opposite side to his regular partner Alexander Moser in junior hockey.
He barely noticed, his terse reply: "Maybe it was because of the one-timers." In junior hockey, Nickl and KAC often dominated as they pleased, but now, as a right-shot player, he plays on his natural side.
With rotations of seven defencemen, the distribution is difficult to maintain anyway; with only three pairings, it becomes a bit easier.
What about the L-R ratio in the ICE? Some observations, based on the rosters from Wednesday's game day. Out of 96 defencemen, 33 were righties – just under 34 percent. That's a bit more than I would have expected.
The most balanced team: Vienna Capitals
With Nick Bailen, Lorenz Lindner, Devin Steffler, and Nelson Nogier, four of the first seven defencemen are right-shots. Even if Nogier drops out again, Coach Mike Stewart can – and does – form balanced pairings.
The Righty Overload: Milano HC
With the league newcomer, five of the seven defencemen are right-shots. The pairing of Tony Dello and Wyatte Wylie is the only consistent right-handed pairing in the league, where Wylie, who is equipped with better hands, is allowed to stay on his natural side.
Well-stocked: Graz99ers
In Graz, there has been an oversupply of righty defencemen for years – even though Korbinian Holzer and Kilian Zündel left, two Austrians of this species, David Maier and Maximilian Kirchebner, joined. With them, the indestructible Frank Hora, and Paul Reiner, half of the eight defencemen are right-shots.
Righties wanted - Olimpija Ljubljana
Due to Clayton Kirichenko's long-term injury, Coach Ben Cooper currently cannot field a single right-shot defenceman.
The rumored signing of Tyler Lewington makes sense for two reasons: a) he is a righty, and b) like T.J. Brennan and Andrew MacWilliam, who was brought in last year, he is a player Cooper knows from Salzburg.
A Unique Specimen - HC Bozen
Enrico Larcher is the only right-shot player in the Bolzano defence. With just six men (excluding 19-year-old Noah Frick), their defensive unit is thinly spread, and of course, another defenceman will be added during the season.
However, with Larcher, who is improving game by game, not only the sole righty but also a younger skilled player would once again be pushed to the back. A dilemma for Sports Manager Dieter Knoll.
Better than reported – Black Wings Linz and VSV
The experiment with Vojtech Mozik ended in Linz as expected – after a long break from play, his knee is no longer cooperating.
The search for a righty-D with puck skills continues, but the pressure is far from as great as expected. The team is also playing very strongly with just one import defenceman, and Greg Moro, alongside Niklas Würschl and Christoph Tialler, is one of their three right-shot players.
In Villach too, three righties are available: Ryan Sproul, Sean Larochelle, and the recovered Thomas Vallant.
Two is the norm
The rest of the league usually has two right-shot defencemen, albeit of varying quality.
Pustertal just signed such a player in Josh Wesley, while for the Pioneers, the fact that the limited Antony Costantini is the only righty among the top-4 is a minor problem.
Innsbruck (Joel Messner, Winston Frimmel), KAC (Nickl, Maxi Preiml), Fehervar (Tim Campbell, Viktor Persson, or stand-in Donat Horvath), and Ferencvaros (Jesper Lindgren, Tamas Ortenszky) are within this normal range.
The crisis-ridden Red Bulls also belong to this group: Lukas Hörl is now a permanent fixture in the top-6, and Jayden Lee was supposed to be the puck-carrying right-shot for the power play, but he couldn't fulfil this role due to significant physical deficiencies.
