The NHL is driven by speed and skill. Offense has dominated in recent seasons, and scoring has gone up, while defense is expected to combat it, and most have failed. In this week’s episode of The Hockey Writers Ice Time, the discussion was based on how the league’s top defenses are fighting back.
Related: Brenden Dillon’s Physicality Rounds Out Devils’ Defense
The top five blue lines halfway through the 2024-25 season are the Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, and Washington Capitals. All five have shown how to eliminate a powerful offense. The league is faster and more skilled than ever, and great defenses have pivoted as a result.
Defensive Structure is Key
The Jets are a good place to start. They have one of the best goaltenders in the game – Connor Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy last season and is on pace to win it again. However, it’s easy to forget what their defense looked like under former head coach Paul Maurice. The Jets played an aggressive forechecking style, but they were overconfident in their goaltender, which allowed plenty of quick scoring chances the other way.
In the past two seasons, the Jets haven’t played with the same forechecking presence but have instead focused on their play in both the neutral and defensive zones. It’s helped Hellebuyck, who no longer faces a surplus of shots on a nightly basis. The result is a defense that allowed only 2.41 goals per game last season and only 2.46 this season.
Defenses are trying to make it difficult for opponents to move the puck up the ice and into the offensive zone. It’s why the Kings defend in layers that teams must navigate to set up their offense. They will have the forwards backchecking in the neutral zone while the defensemen play the blue line. It’s an aggressive style that limits shots on net and scoring chances altogether.
The ability to limit chances, particularly high-danger chances, has become integral for good defense. It’s why the Devils have become one of the best defenses in the league. They play the slot area and dare teams to generate shots from the tough angels in the offensive zone. Under head coach Lindy Ruff, the unit fell apart and allowed teams to find easy scoring chances not only off the rush but also near the net. With Sheldon Keefe behind the bench, the defensemen consistently play in those areas while the forwards step up in the neutral zone to make zone entries all the more difficult.
Every great defense needs a backchecking presence from their forwards to help out. It requires skill, and it’s why the best defenses aren’t just hard-hitting, shot-blocking, and physical groups. They have the skill as well.
Speed & Skill to Match Speed & Skill
Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes epitomize the modern NHL defenseman. They are remarkable skaters and have the skill to take the offense to the next level, but their defensive play is what makes them stand out. They can use their speed to limit opponents in space and cut down angles on the rush, but also, once they create turnovers, they can handle the puck out of the defensive zone and into the offensive zone. It’s why Makar won the Norris Trophy in 2022 and Hughes won it in 2024, and both are frontrunners to win it again this season.
Every team needs a defenseman who can do those things. While there are few defensemen as good as Makar and Hughes, every team has at least one puck-handling blueliner and two great skating defensemen. With opposing teams creating scoring off the rush, the defensemen must be fast enough to keep up.
It’s not just the defensemen, either. Forwards must be great skaters, yes, but they also need to use their speed to help out the defense. Connor McDavid helped the Edmonton Oilers reach the Stanley Cup Final with his great defensive play and his skating ability, allowing him to force turnovers. It’s one of the reasons they won a lot of low-scoring games in their playoff run. Jack Hughes is one of the best skaters in the game, and he’s chasing plays down and limiting opponents in space to help make the Devils’ defense great.
The Capitals added Jakob Chychrun to their roster in the offseason. It was unclear if the move would pay off, considering his tenure with the Ottawa Senators didn’t work out. He’s a prime example of how adding skill helps out the defense. He controls the puck and moves it up the ice to allow the team to maintain possession and, by default, limit opponents from scoring. His 11 goals stand out, but his 4.5 defensive point shares have been more valuable for a Capitals team near the top of the Eastern Conference.
Balance on the Defensive Unit
Last season, the Devils’ defense was built on speed and two-way play. Along with Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, two young skaters, became a key part of the unit. They struggled, and it’s why the Devils acquired Brenden Dillon, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Brett Pesce in the offseason. They needed to balance out the unit.
Now, the Devils have speed, but they also have size and can defend in multiple ways. They can deliver hard hits or block shots or play physical, and they turn defense into instant offense. On top of that, they have three pairings they can rely on, and instead of a clear-cut top pair, they rotate the three to keep them fresh and healthy within a game and throughout the season. Hamilton’s tenure with the Devils has been plagued by injuries, and to combat that, they don’t overwork him or rely on him to carry the unit.
Great defenses need a two-way defenseman who can help out the offense, especially in a playoff run. However, they also need to have skaters who can shut down any offense. The Florida Panthers had a two-way presence, but Gustav Forsling, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Niko Mikkola eliminated opponents in their zone. The Panthers ultimately leaned on their defense and their shutdown defensemen, in particular, to win the Cup.
Speaking of balance, the Stars not only have that in terms of skill, but they also have the ideal mix of youth and veterans. The young defensemen, notably Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley, are the anchors of the unit, but Esa Lindell and Ilya Lyubushkin are the veterans who help the young skaters who are still learning the position. When Liam Bischel, their top defense prospect, joins the team, they will have the infrastructure in place to ease the 20-year-old into the lineup.
Likewise, the Jets have their two-way defenseman in Josh Morrissey, who has three goals and 31 assists this season and 29 goals and 150 assists over the past three seasons. Otherwise, they are a unit of shutdown defensemen. Neal Pionk and Dylan DeMelo have combined for 10.1 defensive point shares, while Colin Miller adds depth.
The best defenses aren’t top-heavy. Instead, they have reliable skaters throughout the unit. In a hard-cap league, it’s a tough task to find six defensemen who can take on that role, but the best teams have invested heavily in the position, and it’s paid off.
Building Around Goaltending
The Jets’ success is built around Hellebuyck. He can bail out a defense that makes mistakes, but under Maurice, they were overconfident in his abilities. It’s not that Maurice’s style is a bad one.didn’t work. On the contrary, it’s one of the reasons the Panthers have been a dominant team in recent seasons. However, his style didn’t work with the goaltender they had.
The Tampa Bay Lightning reached the Stanley Cup Final three seasons in a row and won the title in 2020 and 2021 in part because they built around goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s skills. He’s a tall, athletic goaltender who can make the initial save but struggles on second-chance shots. The Lightning defense played the slot and cleaned up loose pucks with this in mind.
The Capitals, Devils, and Kings don’t have an elite goaltender, but their defense is built to make an average or good goaltender look great. For the Kings, it’s limiting the volume of shots, and it’s why they rarely allow 30 or more in a game. The Devils play the middle of the ice to help out Jacob Markstrom, but they also step up in the neutral zone to make sure teams don’t find quick chances on the rush. The Capitals will allow their goaltenders to see the initial shots, and they won’t get into the sightlines of Charlie Lindgren, who is one of the smaller goaltenders in the NHL. The best defenses typically have a great goaltender, but if not, their defense compensates by playing to their strengths.
Notes on the Top 5 NHL Defenses
It’s a cliche that the best defense is a good offense, and in hockey, that’s true to an extent. Possession and puck control go a long way, and opponents can’t score when the puck is in their zone. It’s why the best defenses not only maintain possession but keep the puck in the offensive zone.
The Carolina Hurricanes became a prominent puck possession team in recent seasons as they not only maintain control but keep the puck in the offensive zone. The Capitals have turned their defense around, in part, because of possession, and it’s not only the defense stepping up, but the forwards will make the smart plays and establish a strong offensive zone presence.
The Devils and Kings have a great backchecking presence, but the forecheck is also essential to success, especially in a playoff run. The forward unit must create turnovers in the offensive zone to set up the offense, but they also must force opponents to bring the puck the full length of the ice to score. It’s why the chip and chase becomes a staple in the playoffs.
Is there anything that stands out about this season’s great defenses? Let us know in the comments section below.
