If Marlon Brando played hockey: defenseman, rated 81

Marlon Brando as a hockey player: scouting report

Marlon Brando would play defense, and he would make the front of his own net the most uncomfortable piece of ice in the league. His Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, first on Broadway and then on film, changed screen acting with its raw physical force. That intensity is the best thing on his card. He would clear the crease, finish every check along the boards and make forwards think twice before cutting across the middle.

His defense is nearly as strong, and it comes from the same place as his craft. Brando studied with Stella Adler and became the face of a style built on reading the other person and reacting truthfully, which is a good description of a defenseman playing a two on one. He won the Academy Award for On the Waterfront as the dock worker Terry Malloy and another for The Godfather, two roles built on quiet intensity. Opponents know he is there without him saying a word. His goaltending is surprisingly good, because so much of his game is patience.

Skating is his weak spot. He is not a defenseman who will lead the rush or recover from a bad pinch, so pair him with a mobile partner who moves the puck and let Brando handle the heavy work. Goalie is a legitimate second spot and left wing a distant third. Draft him as the shutdown anchor of your top pair, put him out against the other team's best line and let his presence do the talking.

Plays like A punishing stay at home defenseman who owns the front of the net

Put Marlon Brando in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting six and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.