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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
The NHL is in a golden era for defensemen.
There are legacy stars who have Norris Trophy wins and continue to be the backbones of their contending teams. There are ascendent young players ready to outshine those elders. And then there’s Cale Makar, who is earning comparisons to Bobby Orr from legends like Wayne Gretzky. He’s basically his own category at this point.
Even with that deep pool of talent, the very best D-men are clearly defined, according to one NHL executive.
“There’s no doubt in my mind about the top five. The order will change from one year to the next, but that’s the top five,” the exec said.
Welcome to the first results from the 2024 NHL Positional Rankings, a unique way to determine the best of the best. Some surveys ask players for their rankings. Others poll executives. The NHL Positional Rankings combine both opinions into one definitive set that blends on-ice savvy with boardroom thinking.
Here’s how it worked: Surveys were conducted over the past month. Respondents were asked to rank their current top 10 players at center, winger, defenseman and goaltender based on a predetermined list of the top 30-40 players at each position. Players ranked on each ballot were given a numerical score — No. 1 earned 10 points, No. 2 got 9 points and so on.
Ten NHL players were surveyed — four from the Eastern Conference, six from the Western Conference. They range from NHL award nominees to veteran role players. To balance that perspective, we surveyed 10 people from the hockey operations departments of NHL teams — six from the East, four from the West — including two coaches and three general managers.
Combined, their insights led to rankings that go behind fan conjecture and media narratives to reveal the best of the best according to those inside the NHL.
Stats are collected from sites such as Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey.
197 points | Age: 25 | Last season: 1st
Makar improved on his vote total from last season while remaining king of all blueliners in the NHL.
The Avalanche star has more points than any other defenseman since entering the league in the 2019-20 season, amassing 306 points in just 286 games. His 1.07 career points-per-game average ranks him third in NHL history for defensemen who have played at least 250 games, behind Hall of Famers Bobby Orr (1.39) and Paul Coffey (1.09).
The best shorthand description of Makar’s excellence is that he’s essentially “Connor McDavid, except a defenseman.” They both do things on the ice that their peers simply can’t replicate. Both possess unapproachable skating talent. Both look like a human cheat code when they join the rush offensively. Both dominate awards nominations: Makar is seeking his fourth straight Norris Trophy nomination, having won the award in 2021-22.
Like McDavid — and the majority of the NHL’s legendary players — Makar just keeps rounding out his game. His individual shot attempts have jumped over the past two seasons. This season, Makar is on pace to block more shots per game than in his four previous NHL seasons.
Makar took first place on 17 ballots. Two current NHL players and one executive had him second overall. In two of those cases, they ranked him behind the current leader in scoring by a defenseman: our second-place finisher, Quinn Hughes.
146 points | Age: 24 | Last season: NR
The Canucks defenseman’s season has been called career-defining. It might net him his first defenseman scoring title and, in the process, his first Norris Trophy. For a moment, Hughes was threatening to become the first defenseman to win NHL MVP since Chris Pronger in 2000 — and there’s still time for him to build that case.
But for us, nothing captures the excellence of Hughes’ season more than his ascent in the NHL Positional Rankings. Last season, Hughes didn’t appear in the top 10 among defensemen on any of our 20 ballots. This season, he received 146 points and appeared on 19 of 20 ballots — although one NHL general manager left him off theirs completely.
Hughes had 65 points in his first 53 games this season to lead all defensemen, although Makar has a slight lead in points-per-game average. He already has shattered his career high in goals and is on track to do the same in plus/minus, with a plus-32 through 52 games.
According to Stathletes, Hughes leads the league in completed passes per 60 minutes, while being the league’s top puck-rushing defenseman this season.
For all the talk of Makar’s place among the greatest offensive defensemen of all time, Hughes ranks sixth in points-per-game average (0.91) among defensemen who have played at least 250 games.
This season, he added the captaincy of the Canucks to his impressive bio.
“I’ve evolved a lot in my game and off the ice as well,” Hughes told ESPN this season. “I always tell people that from 19-21 to 23-25 or 27, it will be different. You keep evolving. It’s something I think I’m really good at.”
119 points | Age: 24 | Last season: 7th
The Stars defenseman jumped up the rankings thanks to five top-three finishes on our respondents’ ballots. He appeared in the top three on just two ballots last season.
However, two players left Heiskanen off their ballots this season. They both play on Western Conference teams, before you start screaming about Eastern Conference bias.
Heiskanen opened a lot of eyes last season with an outstanding 73 points in 79 games, skating 25:29 per game. His scoring numbers are off that pace this season — he was at 1.8 points per 60 minutes through 42 games, down from a career-high 2.2 points per 60 last season. But he has been more careful with the puck this season, on track for a career low in giveaways. He stays out of the penalty box and is an elite passer as well, ranking fourth in the NHL in completed passes per 60 minutes.
The Finnish defenseman has never made the top three for the Norris Trophy, but he makes our top three in the NHL Positional Rankings in 2024.
“I think the top three is a good group up there,” one NHL executive concluded. “I mean, pick your flavor: fast skaters, scorers, guys who can play well in their own zone.”
112 points | Age: 25 | Last season: 2nd
Fox continues to be a divisive defenseman.
He appeared in the top three on seven ballots, earning the only first-place vote that didn’t go to Hughes or Makar. But he was ranked ninth or 10th on three ballots and was left off two ballots entirely, by one Western Conference veteran and one Eastern Conference executive.
The Rangers blueliner is a two-time Norris Trophy finalist, winning the award in 2020-21 and placing second overall last season. Despite missing time to injury in November, Fox has had another outstanding season: 39 points in 42 games. Stathletes has him with the third-best rate of completed passes per 60 minutes in the league. His eight goals have him on pace to set a new career high.
If there’s a knock on his game, it’s on the penalty kill, where he has been less effective. His time has been reduced this season from 2:07 per game to 1:15. Still, it’s a wonder how a player who finished second for the Norris and second in the NHL Positional Ranking last season dropped to fourth here.
“People hate Fox for some reason,” an NHL executive said.
91 points | Age: 26 | Last season: 5th
McAvoy might want to set up an umbrella and a lounge chair around the fourth or fifth spot in any NHL defenseman rankings. It’s where he’s bound to end up. Might as well settle in and get comfy.
He was fourth among defensemen in the NHL Rank project before the season, behind Makar, Fox and Victor Hedman. He was fifth in the NHL Positional Rankings last season. He was on 18 ballots last season, which dropped to 16 ballots this season. McAvoy failed to garner support from a Western Conference general manager and three Western Conference skaters.
He’s a steady, solid two-way defenseman. He plays a ton, with 24:30 average time on ice. McAvoy had 33 points through 44 games this season, with a points-per-game average in range of last season’s career-high 0.75. As in previous seasons, his lack of point production on the power play leads to season totals that are just a few ticks down from the leaders.
He might never be Makar, and he hasn’t been as dynamic as Hughes this season. But he has his supporters. McAvoy was second on one Eastern Conference executive’s ballot and third on the ballots of three other voters: a Western Conference coach, an Eastern Conference executive and a Western Conference veteran who was baffled that Charlie Mac didn’t get more love.
“I had McAvoy in my top three, easily. The guy is elite,” he said.
89 points | Age: 33 | Last season: 3rd
I’m not ready to accept the end of Victor Hedman’s run as one of the most dominant defensemen in the NHL.
His streak of six straight Norris Trophy nominations was snapped last season, when he was 15th in the balloting. Our monthly NHL Awards Watch hasn’t seen him crack the top three, although his 52 points in 51 games holds some promise that he could get there in the end.
But a tumble from third overall to sixth in the NHL Positional Rankings tells the tale. At some point, every “best of his generation” defenseman has to cede the spotlight to the next ones.
Last season, Hedman made the top three on half the ballots. This season, he made the top three on just two ballots: one from a Western Conference coach and one from a Western Conference veteran. Two executives and two players left him off their ballots completely.
That seems egregious. This is Victor Hedman we’re talking about here, the sturdy defensive foundation on which the Lightning built something close to a dynasty. But no longer in the top five.
“Hedman might be a bit of a reputation-based guy at this point,” one NHL executive said.
80 points | Age: 33 | Last season: 4th
Should Josi have two Norris Trophy wins? It’s still wild to think that a 96-point season in 2021-22 didn’t earn him a second win, but it was Cale Makar’s turn to land the hardware.
Like Hedman, Josi continues to be an effective elder statesman on the blue line. He has 47 points in 52 games, skating around 25 minutes per game, playing in all situations. Like Hedman, he went from a top-five finish last season to outside of it this season.
Josi had some strong supporters. One NHL general manager and a Western Conference goalie had him second overall and ahead of Quinn Hughes. An Eastern Conference coach placed him third behind Makar and Hughes.
But one NHL executive felt that putting Josi and Hedman outside the top five was the right thing to do.
“Some might see it as a top six or a top seven [in the top tier], but Josi and Hedman aren’t on that level for me,” the exec said.
45 points | Age: 29 | Last season: 9th
Slavin is notable not only for the way he plays, but also for what he represents.
Over the past several seasons, the Hurricanes defenseman has been the torchbearer for “defensive defensemen”: those blueliners who are known for shutting it down in their own end rather than lighting it up on the offensive end of the ice. He also manages to play this role without taking a large number of penalty minutes.
That’s not to say Slavin can’t kick in offensively, which is likely why he finds himself in our ranking. He had a career-best 42 points two seasons ago. This season, he has 22 points in 51 games, a respectable total for someone who averages 24 seconds of power-play ice time per game.
Slavin appeared on eight ballots, with one Eastern Conference general manager ranking him third overall among defensemen, behind Makar and Hughes.
36 points | Age: 28 | Last season: NR
Now we start getting into the surprises. Although maybe we should have seen this one coming based on last year’s vote.
Morrissey was unranked but not unnoticed in the 2023 edition, appearing on five ballots but placing no higher than fifth. His stock has clearly risen since then, as Morrissey appeared on nine ballots to make the jump from unranked to ninth overall. Two Western Conference players really showed him the love, ranking him second and fourth on their ballots.
Perhaps it was Morrissey’s 73-point breakout season offensively that caught their attention. Perhaps the Jets’ strong 2023-24 season, especially on defense, helped raise his profile. Whatever it was, Morrissey made the cut … although others we polled were a little less convinced.
“I’m not a Morrissey guy. I don’t get it,” one NHL executive said.
“Morrissey would not be in the top 10 for me, if we’re talking all-around D-men,” one NHL veteran player said. “That’s crazy.”
33 points | Age: 34 | Last season: NR
Last season, Doughty finished three points behind New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton for the final spot in the ranking. In fact, Doughty was the defenseman with the highest ballot ranking (fourth) who didn’t ultimately make the cut.
So Doughty was in the conversation. But a year older, and with offensive numbers that have slipped just a bit, Doughty made the cut over a slew of other defensemen vying for the top 10 that included Pittsburgh Penguins star Erik Karlsson, who was sixth last season, and Buffalo Sabres blueliner Rasmus Dahlin, who was eighth.
“I’d take Dahlin 10 times before I take Doughty,” an NHL executive said.
Doughty appeared on eight ballots. What put him over the top in the voting? He was ranked third by one veteran Western Conference player, and fourth by a Western Conference goaltender.
Doughty has 27 points in 49 games for the Kings this season, his 16th in the NHL. He won the Norris Trophy in 2015-16 and was a finalist for the award four times — although not since 2017-18.
“Drew Doughty has been living off his reputation for five seasons,” another NHL executive said. “He’s a good player. A very good player. But he’s top 30, not top 10.”
Honorable mentions
Dahlin dropped out of the ranking, going from 47 points to 31 points year over year. That put him two points in back of Doughty for 10th. The Sabres defenseman appeared on only seven ballots, but one Western Conference general manager had him second overall behind Makar, making Dahlin the player with the highest ranking on an individual ballot to not make the cut.
The next-highest vote-getter among defensemen was Noah Dobson (16 points) of the New York Islanders, who has been around the top three in scoring from the blue line for most of the season. Dobson appeared on four ballots, no higher than seventh.
After Dobson came Devon Toews of the Avalanche (15 points), one of the best two-way defenders in the league.
There were surprising results for two teams with name-brand defensemen, the Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights. The Penguins’ Karlsson went from 82 points last season to just 14 points in 2024, by far the biggest drop-off for any player. Karlsson made six ballots, ranking no higher than ninth. His teammate Kris Letang amassed 10 points.
“I would have had Erik Karlsson in the top 10 for sure,” one Western Conference veteran said.
Meanwhile, the Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights saw Alex Pietrangelo (9) and Shea Theodore (12) fail to make the cut. Overall, Pietrangelo was the 15th-ranked defenseman on the list. He appeared on four ballots, same as last season, with his highest ranking at sixth overall by one Western Conference general manager. Pietrangelo appeared on only one ballot, from a player.
Hamilton, who was 10th last season, fell out of the ranking with six points after missing most of this season with a torn pectoral muscle. Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs earned only eight points in the voting, tying him with Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings and Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers.
Mikhail Sergachev of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Minnesota Wild rookie Brock Faber each had five points and all other defensemen on the list finished with less than five points.