Ranking the Top 5 Defenses in the NHL
Edging closer to the start of the season, we look at what defenses crack the top 5 in the NHL heading into the 2020-21 season.
At one point or another, we’ve all heard the saying that offense wins games, but defense wins championships. That’s why we’ve decided to take a look at what teams make up the Top 5 defenses in the NHL.
Almost every team has a good top D-pair on their roster, but hockey is a team sport. So if it’s not a matter of star players on the first pair, what makes a good defense then?
A good defense in the NHL is based upon three things. The easiest way to prevent other teams from scoring is to ensure their shots don’t hit the net. To do so, you get in front of every shot you can, thus the teams who block the most shots are generally the better teams.
The second factor is the giveaway and takeaway ratio. Naturally, the more takeaways you have, the more time you have the puck which means fewer scoring opportunities for the opposition.
Lastly, the fundamentals of having a good team include having a perfect breakout. Where does the breakout begin? With the defense.
With all of this being said, let’s take a look at the five teams who do this the best in the NHL. All stats are provided by evolving-hockey.
team. 99. . . . St. Louis Blues. 5
For a team that won the Stanley Cup just two years ago, the St. Louis Blues are still an elite team in the NHL, and a lot of that is due to their astounding defense. Though for a defense that allowed only 2.01 Goals Against in regulation, what makes them rank in at number five is due to the significant piece they lost this offseason, which just so happened to be their Captain and best player, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
Pietrangelo had a monster season in 2019-20, wherein 70 games played, he put up 16 goals and 36 assists for 52 total points, blocking 89 shots, and totaling just 45 giveaways while registering 43 as well. While the St. Louis Blues still maintain a very solid and deep defensive pool of players, the loss of Pietrangelo will be difficult to compensate for, to say the least.
Granted, the addition of Torey Krug in Free Agency should help to fill some of the void left by Pietrangelo, although Krug is more known for his offensive prowess and ability on the power play.
During the 2019-20 NHL season, despite being limited to just 71 games in the regular season due to COVID-19, the Blues showcased an elite defense that led the league with the lowest Corsi against score per 60 minutes of play (48.92).
What does that mean exactly? To break it down into simpler terms, a Corsi score takes into account goals scored, shots on goal, missed shots, and blocked shots. So when it comes to Corsi Against, the higher the value represents the defense allows a lot of scoring opportunities, whereas a lower score represents the defense allowing very few scoring opportunities.
The St. Louis Blues and their ability to lock down opposing offenses is also represented in their goals-against average during regulation, as they allowed just 2.01 GA throughout the season. As mentioned before, however, not having Alex Pietrangelo on the back end will surely leave a void that will be left unfilled for quite some time.
Fortunately for them, they have some of the most depth at the position in the entire league, with players whose names may not jump off the board, but they’ll be able to prevent the other team from scoring.
. . . Columbus Blue Jackets. 4. team. 113
The Columbus Blue Jackets crack the Top 5 for being one of the most defensive-minded teams in the NHL. A team depleted of stars on offense, they make up for it by locking down the best forwards in the game while still finding production from their blue-liners in the offensive zone.
Led by the best defensive pair in the NHL, Zach Werenski and Seth Jones, their backend totaled 39 goals and 134 total points on their campaign a year ago, and 71 of those came from their superstars on the top pair.
The Blue Jackets finished fifth in the NHL in goals-against during regulation, allowing just 2.09 during the 2019-20 season with an expected GA/60 of 2.08. Most of this is attributed to the fact that the team blocks roughly 28% of all opposing shot attempts on goal. Statistically, this defense makes for a top 3 squad, but as far as depth, they don’t compete with the Top 3 in order to ascend any higher than 4th on this list.
In the 2020-21 season, expect the Columbus Blue Jackets to further improve their defense and bost even better situational statistics on the year. While they lost Ryan Murray to the New Jersey Devils in Free Agency and Markus Nutivaara to the Florida Panthers, the Blue Jackets’ scheme revolves around defending their defensive zone and limiting turnovers and scoring opportunities.
With or without those aforementioned players, the message relayed to the players is all the same. They’ll score few goals on the season, but they’ll let up even fewer.
So long as their defense remains atop in the league, they’ll always remain a threat to teams in the postseason. They showed their ability to shut down high powered offenses such as the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they ran out of luck towards the end in a long and arduous series.
While there are a couple of teams that may slide in and out of this list, the Columbus Blue Jackets will be one of the only ones to remain a constant in the Top 5.
. Tampa Bay Lightning. 3. team. 23. .
It goes without saying that the Tampa Bay Lightning had to be listed as a Top 3 defense in the NHL. Led by names such as Victor Hedman – you know, the best defenseman in the league – Mikhail Sergechev, and Ryan McDonagh, they are an elite unit.
Even after losing a top 4 defenseman in Kevin Shattenkirk this offseason to the Anaheim Ducks, this is still an elite group of players.
This defense completes this Stanley Cup-winning roster and they make Vezina Trophy-winner Andrei Vasilevsky look that much better as they ranked third in Corsi against in regulation (50.63). The Tampa Bay Lightning also finished second in the NHL when it comes to goal differential during the 2019-20 season, scoring 50 goals more than allowed on the year.
What’s most impressive about this defense, however, is their turnover differential, as they were one of only four teams last year who registered more takeaways than turnovers, as they were +14 on the season, ranking fourth in the big leagues. On the season, they gave away the second-fewest (405) possessions, translating to more offensive possession which, as you guessed it, translates to scoring more goals on offense.
As mentioned above, this defense lost one of their top blue-liners, but overall, they maintain almost an identical lineup to last year’s championship team. Expect the Bolts to have a top 3 defense in the 2020-21 season as Mikhail Sergechev continues to grow and develop into a true top-pair D-man, and their elite prospects continue to grow into the ranks of the pros.
Tampa Bay will always have one of the better goals-against averages due to having one of the best goalies in the league but pay attention to their Corsi score to see how much of that is attributed to their elite defense.
2. team. 103. . . . Colorado Avalanche
No team in the NHL has had a bigger surge in power rankings than the Colorado Avalanche when it comes to defense. Sure, Cale Makar doing Cale Makar things makes the unit look sensational, but this defense goes much deeper than one guy. We talk about teams who can prevent other teams from scoring while limiting turnovers, and few teams are better at it than Colorado.
In terms of goals against in regulation, the Avalanche allowed just 2.06 (4th in the league) in 2019-20 with an expected goals-against average of 2.17 (5th in the league). The Avs also have numerous defensive prospects arising in the lineup like Ryan Graves who will improve the defensive play of this team. A big-bodied defender, the 6-foot-5 and 220 lbs blueliner brings a lockdown ability on the ice that this team could use more of.
With a good mix of young and veteran talent, Colorado uses it to balance out their game by baring down in the defensive zone as they blocked 26% of opposing shots last season (5th most in the NHL). Earlier on this list, we also talked about effective breakouts being a key to on-ice success. A way to measure this metric is by looking at the number of icings a team committed.
This number gives a good idea of whether the defensemen can make clean passes out of the zone, or if they force things and make costly mistakes. The Avalanche are great in a lot of aspects on defense, and limiting the number of icings committed on breakouts are a strength of theirs, registering just 232 on the year last season, good for the second-fewest in the league.
On top of all of this, they also had the second-highest turnover differential, recording 35 more takeaways than turnovers, further proving that they’re one of the best defensive groups the NHL has to offer.
Were it not for the group at number one, this squad would easily take the cake. What’s terrifying about this defense is the fact that they’re already elite, and the No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, defenseman Bowen Byram, isn’t even on the team yet.
When he finally cracks the lineup, this will be the best defense we’ve seen in years in the NHL.
942. . . . Vegas Golden Knights. 1. team
So um, yeah the Vegas Golden Knights have without a doubt the best defense in the NHL headed into the 2020-21 season. It’s honestly unfair to see that Vegas’ worst season to date was in 2018-19 when they lost in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after bosting a 43-32-7 record in the regular season.
Meanwhile, every other team in the history of the NHL was attrocious for years before they made their first postseason appearance.
Enough bickering though, this defense is simply sensational, as they rank atop the best in the league categories like Corsi against (4th – 50.88), fewest percentage of plays starting in the defensive zone (5.62%), most takeaways (571), and best turnover differential (+66). As truly incredible as these numbers are, there are still some facets of the game that Vegas could improve on, and they made a move in the offseason that they hope can do just that.
That move happens to be the signing of St. Louis Blues superstar defenseman and Captain, Alex Pietrangelo. No team had a more successful offseason than the Vegas Golden Knights solely because of this signing. The team ranked in the middle of the pack in blocked shots, so they’re bringing in a guy who recorded 100+ blocked shots in 9 out of 12 years during his career.
Vegas wants to be more dominant in takeaway differential, so they signed a guy who’s +60 in his career in the category.
Most importantly, the Vegas Golden Knights needed a veteran with Playoff experience, so they signed a defenseman who won the Stanley Cup. Not only does Alex Pietrangelo fit every single one of these needs like a glove, but he also can generate offense on the back-end, scoring 16 goals and 36 assists in 70-games played.
Next. Is 2021 the year Brady Tkachuk becomes a star?. dark
With the addition of the 3x All-Star, the Golden Knights now have the best defense in the NHL, hands down, with emerging superstar Shea Theodore on the cusp of establishing himself as a Norris Trophy contender year in and year out.
The addition of Alex Pietrangelo makes this team the best in the league, and anything short of a Stanley Cup Championship is a complete and utter failure.