Like pretty much all Ducks players save for John Gibson and Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Fowler is an enigma, even at the age of 27, in the midst of his prime and the second season of an eight-year deal that pays him like a top-unit defender.
He is one of the best skaters in the NHL, quick and fluid, and can stick-handle well to the naked eye, but his defensive zone IQ is lacking, and he often leaves his man open, somehow seemingly waiting to get the puck via a pass so he can skate it out of the zone. He has also never hit the 40-point mark in the NHL, so he can't even be regarded as a truly elite offensive defenseman.
Like the Boston Bruins' Torey Krug and the Washington Capitals' John Carlson, he needs to find a more well-rounded game to elevate his status to that of teammates Hampus Lindholm and Josh Manson.
His last string of coaches didn't help, particularly the two stints by Randy Carlyle, who didn't actually have a defensive system.
Here he is wearing the Ducks' black (home) uniform from 2006-2014, on card #GEM-CF from Upper Deck's 2012-13 Black Diamond set and Gemography sub-set:
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