The official NHL.com platform recently ranked the top 20 defensemen in the country. The list is made up of “Stay-at-home” rocks, to “Offensive” defense players, those carved out of chisel in defence or the more attack-minded tacticians of modern day NHL-play.
20: Shea Theodore, Vegas Golden Knights
Just cracking the list is Shea Theodore of the Golden Knights, who scored his first goal in 28 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, helping his side to a 5-2 victory over Florida Panthers in Game 1.
Theodore finished the playoffs with one goal and 12 assists. A great season saw him compile an impressive NHL career high in assists (38), goals 14) and points (52).
19: Brandon Montour, Florida Panthers
The Panthers made a smart move luring Montour from the Sabres three years ago and have not looked back ever since. Last year he scored a career high 73 points (16 goals and 57 assists) and was instrumental in the team reaching the Stanley Cup play-offs, despite a quick loss in the fifth game.
Scoring 5 goals in the Eastern Conference first round (2023), he matched the achievements of the legendary Ed Jovanovski, who fired in five for the Canucks in 2023.
18: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
The third blue-liner on the list in descending order is Drew Doughty from the LA Kings.
When you talk about longevity, not just in age, but in actual ice-time, Doughty is a living legend. He averaged 26:14 minutes on the ice and finished second only to Cale Makar of the Avalanche. He had the most time on the ice in the NHL (2,124:33).
Well, not only is he a two-time Stanley Cup winner but is also ranked second on ice-time since he joined the NHL, behind Ryan Suter.
17: Mikhail Sergachev, Tampa Bay Lightning
The former Montreal Canadiens defenseman scored a career high 64 points last season, with 10 goals and 54 assists. The 25-year-old has time on his side and will look to add to his two Stanley Cup wins with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
16: Brent Burns, Carolina Hurricanes
One of the oldest players on this list is 38-year-old Brent Burns of the Carolina Hurricanes. Playing his first season with the Hurricanes, after 11 straight at the San Jose Sharks, Burns showed he is still up for a fight.
He put up top-notch numbers including 61 points in 82 regular season games. He had the third most shots at goal in the regular season and his 56 bangs in the playoffs was second only to Montour.
One of his greatest accomplishments is that he has not missed one game in nine seasons, spanning 761 successive outings in regular season, putting him second behind Phil Kessel (1,064).
15: Hampus Lindholm, Boston Bruins
The Bruins D-man finished fourth in the Norris Cup voting, with an NHL career high 43 assists and 10 goals.
Alongside Brandon Carlo the pair helped the Bruins to an NHL single season record of 65 wins and 135 points between the pair.
14: Jacon Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes
Slavin is often referred to as an old-time defenseman, solid, uncompromising, and unyielding.
Known for his fierce but fair play he has been in the top-4 for the Lady Byng Trophy in each of the past four seasons. This gentlemanly play belies his skillset on defense and makes him one of the Avalanche’s most valued players.
13: Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche defense is not only the Makar Show, with Toews showing his valuable skills on the ice after his acquisition from the New York Islanders three years ago. He ranked second to Makar in total average ice-time. He also finished second in points earned with 50 in 80 regular season games.
12: Dougie Hamilton, New Jersey Devils
New Jersey did not miss a trick when they snapped up Hamilton on a $63 million contract, with the defenseman scoring 22 goals in one season to tie franchise legend Barry Beck (1977-78) for most by a blueliner. He led all players in his position in game-winning goals (seven) and helped his franchise win team records for wins (52) and points (112).
11: Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
Just missing out on the top ten, “Norissey” finished fifth in the Norris Cup standings. He enjoyed a career high 60 assists and 16 goals in 78 games. Forward Kyle Connor pipped him with 80 points in 82 games. He also led the Jets on time-on-ice (24:14). The upcoming season could be a big one for Morrissey.
10: Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
The countdown has reached the much-vaunted top 10, with Winnipeg Jets defenseman Quinn Hughes making a big play last season. Hughes broke the NHL record for the fastest blueliner to 200 assists, reaching the landmark in 263 games. At 23-years-old Hughes has a bright future and could go on to break many more records. He was also fourth in the NHL for ice-per-game (25:40).
9: Alex Pietrangelo, Vegas Golden Nights
Pietrangelo signed a seven-year contract with the Knights in 2020 – so the Vegas team have more years to admire his defensive skillset. The 33-year-old mixed it with the best with 55 shots blocked in the playoffs and 54 points in the regular season. The former St. Louis Blues player continues to prove his worth on the ice and is a pillar of strength.
8: Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins
Many would have picked the Norris Trophy winner to be higher on this list and his numbers are incredible.
He became the sixth defenseman in history to have a 100+ point season. He scored 25 goals and 76 assists, numbers NHL wingers would be proud of no doubt. The reason why he is only eighth is that the list is for D-men, and he is almost too attack-minded. He won the Norris Trophy 11 years after Senators’ one he earned in 2011/12 (longest gap in history).
7: Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
The only Sabre to crack the list the 2018 No.1 Draft pick was on fire. The defenseman set various career high points (73), goals (15) and assists (58).
Rasmus had a cracking start to the last campaign becoming the first defenseman to score a goal in each of his first four games. He has lived up to his Draft billing becoming the second Sabre in history to reach 70 points in one season (behind Phil Housley).
6: Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
The second Boston Bruins on the list comes in at six, and just misses the top five mark. He was injured until mid-November last season but still finished with 52 points (45 assists, seven goals). He helped the Bruins team win the President’s Trophy for finishing as the best team in the regular season. His blocked shots tally of 131 led the Boston skaters.
5: Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
This was a tough one because Josi missed the last 15 games after suffering an injury, but still led the predators in assists (41) and points (59). He even led time on ice (25:10) and reached 600 NHL points in his 823rd appearance. He is now the second fastest D-man to reach the milestone behind Karlsson. Imagine a full 82 game season and the numbers would be exponentially better.
4: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay defenseman had a relatively poor season by his own high standards but his play over the last decade sees him rank high on this list.
Consistency has been his hallmark. Last season he only picked up 49 points in 76 games, down from 85 the previous season, but is still considered to be one of the best on the business. He did rank high in even-strength points (32) and time on ice, finishing second at the Lightning with 23:43.
3: Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars
Miro Heiskanen is a rising star, and the Dallas player rocked the playoffs becoming only the 4th defenseman in NHL history to achieve 30 postseason assists at age 23 or younger.
At 24, he is still considered a junior amongst the hardmen of the D-zone, but his lightning quick offensive play has seen him become the third quickest skater in terms of games played to reach that mark, trailing forwards Bobby Smith (33) and Brad Maxwell (44). Fast, hungry, and powerful on the transition, Heiskanen has the world at his feet.
2: Adam Fox, New York Rangers
The New York Rangers depend heavily on the defensive skating skills of Adam Fox, who won the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 2021, as that season’s best defenseman.
He signed a seven-year $66.5 million contract (seven years) with the Rangers and has long since been lambasted by the Flames’ fans, who deride him for not joining on an entry level contract. The Flames were his draft team.
He got his 200th point in the NHL in January in the process becoming the second quickest Ranger defenseman in franchise history behind Leetch (211).
Last season he was the only in his position in the NHL with at least 70 points and an unbelievable rating of at least plus-25.
1: Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
Taking the number one slot in this ranking of hardmen is the Avalanche skater Cale Makar, who despite falling short of back-to-back Norris Trophy’s, still managed 66 points in 60 games.
His 17 goals and 49 assists – and an average of 1.1 points per game puts him second in this stat behind Karlsson.
The 4th overall pick in the 2017 draft got his 200th point in only his 195th NHL match, in the process becoming the fastest defenseman in history to reach this landmark.
