Ranking the Top Five Defensive Pairings in the NHL
There are a plethora of superstars on the rise in the NHL on defense, but which defensive pair is the top duo in the league?
Hearing conversations about the best defensemen in the NHL is always intriguing because there are a plethora of options to choose from as the perfect model on the back-end. One topic that’s often overlooked, however, is the argument of which defensive pairing is the best in the NHL.
It’s important to consider what makes an elite defensive pairing. Is it one that locks down opposing offenses? Is it one that scores more points than most forward lines in the league? Here, you’ll see a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, as we breakdown who the top five duos are heading into the 2020-21 NHL season.
Without further delay, let’s kick it off with number five on the list to get the blood pumping…
Cale Makar, Ryan Graves. 5. player. 103. . .
For most teams in the NHL, the ideal starting pair on defense is comprised of an elite playmaking defenseman who can join the rush accompanied by a larger, more stay-at-home blueliner who can serve as a safety net for his more offensive partner. A perfect representation of this model are the young Colorado Avalanche defensemen, Cale Makar and Ryan Graves.
Makar, as we all know, is absolutely spectacular at generating offense as shown by his 12 goals and 38 assists in 57 games during his rookie season in 2019-20 – where he was awarded Rookie of the Year, otherwise known as the Calder Trophy, in the NHL. To go alongside him in the upcoming season will be Ryan Graves who stands at an imposing size of 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds. While Cale Makar is scoring goals and making highlight-reel plays, Graves is locking down the opposition by every means necessary.
Stepping into a larger role last season, Graves saw his ice time increase to nearly eight more minutes, as he averaged 11:06 time on ice (TOI) in 26-games played during the 2018-19 season, while jumping to 18:57 in 69 games-played last year. On top of the additional playing time, he recorded career highs in every category, from points (26) and plus/minus (40 +/-), to hits (112) and blocked shots (150).
When the new season kicks off in January of 2021, the Colorado Avalanche are going to be even more dangerous, as Ryan Graves and Cale Makar are looking to improve off their incredible performances from last season. Where Makar and Graves stand right now, they’ve established themselves as the No. 5 defensive pairing in the NHL, and if both of them can somehow play better than they did a year ago, they could find themselves squeaking in as a top three defensive pair in the league. The future is so bright for Colorado it’s blinding.
23. . . . Victor Hedman, Mikhail Sergachev. 4. player
Before the house is burned down, let’s discuss why defensemen Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev are not a top three defensive pair. Hedman is the best defenseman in the world. We all know that. He stands at 6-foot-6, weighing more than 230 pounds and can skate like the wind. There are truly very few things that are scarier than that. His awareness is immaculate and his ability to make plays is simply unfair.
However, what makes the best defensive pairing in the NHL is self-explanatory when you read the name. It’s a pair of defensemen. The reason why Hedman and Sergachev didn’t crack the top three of this list is that when you breakdown this duo, you have the best player at the position in the world (that’s a given), and another guy who is also pretty good himself, but he’s nowhere near the same caliber as his partner. Though after being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens, defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has made quite a name for himself in Tampa Bay.
Serving alongside Hedman, he won his first Stanley Cup in 2020 in a year that was filled with the ultimate combination of highs and lows. For the 22-year old Russian, the Cup was earned by playing a pivotal role in shutting down some of the best forwards the NHL has to offer. Playing 22:37 TOI per game in 25 Playoff games, Sergachev contributed three goals and seven assists for 10 total points, 41 blocked shots, and 63 hits. For a trophy that requires sacrificing all of yourself, he did just that.
Unfortunately, what sets this duo back, preventing them from cracking the top three on this list, is Mikhail Sergachev. When you break them down individually, are they both All-Stars? The answer is no. Victor Hedman would still be Victor Hedman – the best defenseman in the NHL, no question. However, Mikhail Sergachev is not at that level yet to be regarded as an All-Star in the league. He’s still very young and can easily work his way to becoming one but, right now, he’s a replaceable piece for this pairing, thus keeping them outside of the top three.
. Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis. 3. player. 151. .
Apart from a select few individuals, not many players in the league could give Roman Josi a run for his money and despite turning 30-years old this past summer, he has shown zero signs of regression. As a matter of fact, he’s only gotten better as time has moved on. Last season he recorded his fewest games played (69) in 7 years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he still registered career-highs in goals (16), assists (49), and points (65). On top of this monumental season for the Switzerland native, he was awarded the Norris Trophy – given to the league’s best defenseman during the regular season.
As for his partner, Ryan Ellis, he didn’t have too bad of a season himself in 2019-20, tallying 8 goals and 30 assists for 38 total points, with 9 of those points coming on the power play. Ellis was also able to maintain a solid +16 plus/minus (+ for being on the ice during a goal for / – for being on the ice during a goal against). Obviously, compared to Josi, these numbers aren’t as impressive, but knowing that he did all of this in 49-games played changes that.
This pairing is one that is difficult to decipher solely because of the impact that Roman Josi has on the game. As a result of this, it’s difficult to analyze if Ryan Ellis is suffering from the Patrick Kane effect or not. What that means, essentially, is that when you play with one of the best players in the league, they’re able to make up for your flaws and blemishes by gifting you a plethora of scoring opportunities. While Ellis can get his name on the stat-sheet, you have to stop and ask how much Roman Josi has to do with it.
Regardless of the fact that there is reasonable speculation around Ryan Ellis, this defensive pairing ranks above Hedman and Sergachev due to their ability to create unrelenting pressure on the opposing team with their incredible playmaking abilities, along with the fact that they’ve both made at least one All-Star Game appearance respectively. Their ages may be getting up there, but their production hasn’t slowed down, and the 2020-21 NHL season should be no different as they rank as the number three pair in the league right now with still much to prove.
. . Shea Theodore, Alex Pietrangelo. 2. player. 942.
The Golden Knights have made a literal living off transforming no-name players into studs in the NHL, and Shea Theodore has been their latest product. Traded by the Anaheim Ducks in 2017 for expansion draft compensation, the left-handed defenseman was determined to prove his worth to the NHL, and he’s done exactly that as he’s coming off a statement year in which he potted 13 goals and 33 assists for 46 total points in 71-games played. In that same time span, he was a nuisance to opposing players as he recorded 55 takeaways, ranking amongst the most in the league by a defenseman.
For obvious reasons, the addition of veteran defenseman, Stanley Cup champion and long-time Captain of the St. Louis Blues, Alex Pietrangelo, makes this duo the number two pair in the league. Pietrangelo is coming off a 2019-20 campaign in which he played in 70 games while cranking out 16 goals and 36 assists for 52 points, along with registering 43 takeaways and 89 blocked shots. Not bad for a guy who’s heading into his 13th season in the NHL.
It’s quite apparent that the combination of these stellar defensemen will be a problem that many teams won’t be able to solve in the near, or even distant, future. They can both shutdown forwards along the boards and in open ice, protect the net and hop on defensive rebounds, in addition to being able to dominate their adversaries in the offensive zone with superb creativity and playmaking skills.
Were it not for the two blueliners that sit ahead of Pietrangelo and Theodore, this would make for the best pairing on the blue-line in the NHL. With these guys guarding the back-end, anything short of the Western Conference Finals for the Vegas Golden Knights is a complete and utter disappointment. Look for both of them to have career years in the upcoming season.
113. . . . Seth Jones, Zach Werenski. 1. player
Last, but certainly not least, we have Seth Jones and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets coming in as the best defensive pairing in the NHL heading into the 2020-21 season. Both blueliners have the prototypical frame, ability to score from anywhere on the ice, mobility, 200-foot game, and poise that make up a franchise defenseman. What makes these two so special though, is that both of them possess all of these traits.
Fresh out of the University of Michigan, the 6-foot-2, 215 pounds Zach Werenski took the league by storm in his rookie season in 2016-17, as he showed tremendous confidence and poise while notching 11 goals and 36 helpers to total 47 points, along with registering 90 blocked shots and an average of 20:55 TOI in 78 games played as a 19-year old.
Along with his uprising came Seth Jones’s emergence to fame, as the 6-foot-4, 210 pounds defenseman finished a career year with 12 goals and 30 assists for 42 points in 75 games played. As time has progressed, Jones and Werenski have been building stronger chemistry while demanding more from one another, which has led to more success for the dominant pairing. On a team that lacks dynamic playmakers on offense, it’s been up to the American-born skaters to step up to the plate, as both of them have proven to be capable of not only joining the rush, but leading it too.
A vital feature of a franchise defenseman is the ability to log big minutes. To show they can do so at ease, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski recorded a modest shift total of 76 and 75 respectively in their 5OT game against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the recent Stanley Cup Playoffs this summer. While the game was lost, Jones became the official record-holder for the most minutes played by a skater in a single game with 65:06, and while Werenski didn’t break the record himself, he still logged a humble 61:11 TOI himself that game. What’s ridiculous about all of this is that in a post-game interview, Seth Jones told the media “I feel fine” as if he didn’t just play the fourth-longest game in NHL history…
These two studs are the true definition of two-way defensemen, as they can score 40+ points each (done in three consecutive seasons respectively), while making plays in the defensive zone by laying their body’s on the line to block shots as Werenski has posted 89 or more in three out of four seasons, while Jones has totaled no fewer than 118 blocked shots since the 2014-15 season. These two are indisputably, undoubtedly the best defensive pairing in the NHL heading into the 2020-21 season.