Chicago Blackhawks: Ten best players of the 2010s

The key to Chicago winning all of the Stanley Cups that they did was playing great defense. Yeah, they had lots of players on the roster who could score goals in bunches but it was their goal prevention that made them so successful. They had some superstar level defenseman but they also needed some depth in that department as well. Johnny Oduya was one of the great depth defensemen in the entire league during his time with Chicago. He was a great player and comes in as the ninth-best Blackhawks player of the decade.

Oduya wasn’t much of an offensive mind. He did what he needed to do to be a solid top-four defenseman on a championship team. He only had ten goals and 35 assists for 45 points over 234 games with Chicago. He was one-half of one of the best defensive pairs in the NHL at the time. The Hawks prided themselves on their defensive play and Oduya was a major part of that.

He spent some time with other teams throughout his NHL career but he spent five years with Chicago and they all came during the 2010s decade. He won the 2013 and 2015 Cup with Chicago. Every player on those squads was pivotal to the success of the team and Oduya was no different. Quenneville had two pairs that he trusted to go out there against anyone on the opposition and Oduya made that possible as their number four defenseman.