Recently, I surveyed the staff here at drive4five to find out who they think are the Top 10 Defensemen in the National Hockey League right now. Following the survey, I tallied up all of the lists as a points system (ex. first place is ten points, second place is nine points, etc.) After calculating the totals for each defenseman, I then ranked the consensus top 10 using each players’ point total. In total, 13 writers submitted their lists, which means that the number one d-man could get a maximum of 130 points.
Before moving on to the top ten, there were 15 other d-men to receive at least a vote: Thomas Chabot (OTT, 1 point), Cale Makar (COL, 2 points), Tyson Barrie (TOR, 2 points), Duncan Keith (CHI, 2 points), Jaccob Slavin (CAR, 2 points), Kris Letang (PIT, 3 points), Keith Yandle (FLA, 4 points), Torey Krug (BOS, 4 points), Aaron Ekblad (FLA, 5 points), Shea Weber (MTL, 6 points), John Klingberg (DAL, 6 points), Miro Heiskanen (DAL, 10 points), Charlie McAvoy (BOS, 13 points), Dustin Byfuglien (WPG, 13 points), and P.K. Subban (NJ, 21 points). Now on to the top 10.

#10 – Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs (36 points)
Rielly, 25, has become one of the top offensive defensemen in the National Hockey League. The past two seasons, he has put up insane numbers, scoring 26 goals (20 of them last season!), 98 assists, and 124 points in 158 games, averaging 22:03 minutes a night. He’s got a team-friendly contract for the next three seasons at five million AAV, so come the 2022 offseason, the Leafs will need to have a ton of cap space open to re-sign their franchise defenseman.

#9 – Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (41 points)
No surprises here. The 29-year-old defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings has been a staple on these top-ten lists for a while now, despite the falloff of some aspects of his game and the abomination of a contract he has. The 2015-16 Norris Trophy winner scored eight goals and added 37 assists in 82 games this past season, and while that may seem like a lot, it is unlike Doughty of previous years (60 points in 2017-18). This season is the first year of his brand new, eight-year, $11 million AAV deal (with a full NMC in the first four years and a Modified NMC in the final four) that runs through the 2026-27 season, his age 38 season.

#8 – John Carlson, Washington Capitals (47 points)
Islanders fans know this man too well, and I am actually really surprised that he isn’t ranked higher than number eight on this list. Carlson’s time in the NHL has been full of offense, offense, and even more offense. Last season, Carlson, 29, put up 13 goals and a career-high 57 assists for a career-high 70 points. There was a ton of speculation regarding Carlson and the Islanders when he was tentatively scheduled to become a free agent after the 2017-18 season. when Lou took over the team and Barry Trotz became the coach. Carlson ended up signing an eight-year deal with the Capitals, and he is entering year two of that deal.

#7 – Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (49 points)
The captain of the Nashville Predators is the definition of consistency in the NHL. Josi, 29, is on an expiring deal with the Preds after this season, so they are running low on time to re-sign the eight-year veteran defenseman. This past year, he tallied a career-high 15 goals while adding 41 assists for 56 points in 82 games, which is only five points shy of his career-high of 61 points in 2015-16. Nashville cannot afford to lose someone with such great leadership and consistency, offensively and defensively, next offseason because he would be a hot commodity.

#6 – Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (51 points)
Serving as the captain of the 2019 Stanley Cup Champions is no big task. Pietrangelo, however, is able to do it flawlessly. The 29-year-old is entering his 12th season in the NHL, and he is only getting better. Despite missing 11 games last year on the Blues’ road to the cup, he put 13 goals and 41 points in 71 regular-season games and added another three goals and a playoffs-high 16 assists for 19 points in 26 games on the Blues’ road to the Stanley Cup. Pietrangelo’s contract is up at the end of the season, so the Blues need to pay up if they don’t want to lose their captain.

#5 – Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames (53 points) 
Like a fine wine, Mark Giordano is only getting better with age. The Flames’ 35-year old captain is coming off of his best season yet, scoring 17 goals and a career-high 57 assists for 74 points, a total that absolutely shattered his previous career-high in points. The most impressive part, though, is that at 35, he took home his first career Norris Trophy, being named the best defenseman in the National Hockey League for the 2018-19 season. Giordano has three more seasons on a six-year deal he signed prior to the 2016-17 season, so it only makes sense that he calls it quits after the deal expires at the age of 38.

#4 – Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets (67 points) 
On a list that’s loaded with veterans from top-to-bottom, Blue Jackets alternate captain Seth Jones sticks out from the bunch. Jones, 24, is entering his seventh year in the NHL, and fourth playing with the Blue Jackets after being traded for Ryan Johansen half-way through the 2015-16 season. Since getting to Columbus, he has been nothing but spectacular. He tallied nine goals and 41 points in 75 games last season, and in total has 39 goals and 165 points in 269 games since becoming a Blue Jacket. He’s only getting better, so watch out as he may be a potential Norris Trophy candidate this season.

#3 – Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks (70 points) 
There was going to be an easy answer for the top three defensemen in the NHL. The order for two and three, however, was up in question for a while. Karlsson, 29, is entering his second season with the Sharks, and his first year of his new eight-year, $11.5 million AAV contract that is questionable in all senses of the deal. Karlsson had a down year in his first year with the Sharks, only playing in 53 games due to countless injuries, and only scoring three goals with 45 points. Hopefully, he can stay healthy so the Sharks can find out if the contract and the trade value they sent off was worth it, or if the Karlsson trade was a bust.

#2 – Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks (82 points)
Burns, 34, is entering his 13th season in the NHL, and ninth with the Sharks. He is putting up points at a pace that he has never done before, scoring 16 goals and adding a career-high 67 assists for a career-high 83 points in 82 games. He also pent another season towards the top of the Norris Trophy results, coming in second this year after winning the award in 2016-17 and placing third in 2015-16. Burns is entering the third season of an eight-year, $8 million AAV contract that runs through his ag-40 season. Hopefully, Burns is able to put up the same type of stats he did last year for a Sharks team that lost their captain in Joe Pavelski.

#1 – Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning (125 points)
Are we not surprised? Hedman, 28, is a three-time all NHL first-team defensemen, a three-time top-three Norris finisher, and the Norris Trophy winner in the 2017-18 season. His 2018-19 season was full of ups-and-downs, ranging from missing 12 games with an injury in the regular season and two of the four playoff games, to somehow still scoring 12 goals and 54 points in the 70 games he did play. It’s obvious that he is the best defenseman in the NHL, and he is getting paid like it, too. Hedman is in the third season of an eight-year, $7.785 million AAV deal that will run through his age-34 season, so this deal will most likely not be his last payday.

Who do you think are the top ten defensemen in the NHL right now? Leave your list in the comments below and look out for the next list – the top 10 centers!

SEF