I'm not sure how popular offensive defencemen are. Me personally, I dont like offense only defence men. I like good 2way defencemen and I also like the physical guys. Even better if it is a combination of everything. Like A guy like Shea Weber. I do consider Carlson a good 2way defenceman.
One thing I have noticed about you DC is that you prefer physical guys. But that doesnt necessarily mean they are good defensively. Infact sometimes it is quite the opposite. Some guys are so intent on getting the big hit that they get caught out of position.
The old saying “Defense Wins Games, Offense Sells Tickets”, has proven prodomintly accurate throughout any sport.
In this case, if you take the most popular defenseman, the all-star vote getters, jersey sellers, highest salaries, and now a days e en Norris vote getters are offensive, if not offensive that play at least average D, with the minority being primary D, or shutdown Dmen. . . So yeah, I would say they’re the most popular.
I’m general I prefer smart defense-first defenseman. With that considered I prefer physical Dmen over offensive. They are harder to play against (particularly in the long term), give the goalie better protection, generally less risk, and generally more cap friendly allowing for a more for a deeper defense and deeper team.
Yes this appears to be contrary to “the way it is now”, but many teams are moving away from or not going with a “marque offensive Dman”, or lkeeoing on and just using him situational or on the PP, Vegas being the first that comes to mind.